


The Origins of Dean's Blue Blanket

by Fandomnerdiness (joshifine7)



Series: A Little Family [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Comfort, Cribs, Crying, Cuddles, Daddy!Cas, Diapers, Family Fluff, Flu, Gen, Infantilism, Little!Sam, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifiers, Sick Dean Winchester, baby blanket, baby!dean - Freeform, clingy!Dean, daddy!Gabriel, play pen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:11:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 48,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshifine7/pseuds/Fandomnerdiness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a hunt with his brother, Dean gets sick and slips into his little headspace, calling his Daddy to come look after him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Getting ready for the hunt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WildMagic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildMagic/gifts).



> Based on a prompt by WildMagic:  
> What if, they're away from the cabin - the boys are on a hunt/just finished one. They're both asleep in a crappy motel when one of them (don't mind which one tbh. Although Dean would be super awesome!!) wakes up feeling sick, hot and dizzy. Whoever it is rushes to the toilet to empty last nights food and drink and sinks to their knees whimpering and crying. They then cry out for 'daddy'. Being sick has pushed them into their headspace without realising it. (When they woke up they would have been 'big', but actually throwing up was what pushed them to be 'little'). The respective Angel is there a second later, overly worried and concerned at the name 'daddy' that he received in a prayer from his son. They see what the problem is and obviously attend to the sick boy. That's when the Angel discovers that his boy has wet himself, so a warm bath is in short order. The other boy, the one who isn't sick, has woken up from all the commotion (prehaps if the sick one is Dean, Sam wakes up when Cas is taping a diaper around Dean?) and wonders what the hell is going on. They're really understanding of it and they both get taken back to the cabin as everything they need when they're little is there. If it was Dean that was sick, I like to imagine that Cas places him in his playpen to sleep rather than the crib as he can get to him easier or whatever. Sam, who since being back at the cabin has very slowly started to slip into his little headspace, but hasn't realised it yet asks Cas (who is aware that Sam is slowly slipping) if he can get in the playpen with Dean and sleep with his brother. Cas indulges him and Sam curls up around Dean and hugs him gently as he too falls asleep. When Sam wakes up next, he's completely 'little' and is pleased to see his daddy there too.

Dean slumped behind the wheel of the Impala completely exhausted from their latest hunt. They had heard about a recent spate of killings and had decided to check the area out - discovering what appeared to be a rogue pack of werewolves that had made their base in the surrounding town. The only problem they had now was finding the exact location of the pack or their specific hunting ground before the next full moon which was due the very next evening. 

This is why, after having rushed into town, straight off the back of their last hunt, they had spent the morning conducting interviews with the locals and the whole of the afternoon trudging around in the damp muddy forest looking for clues. Trecking through the woods in the middle of winter was no ones idea of fun and Dean found himself getting increasingly frustrated with their lack of progress. 

"Dude, I think we might be getting closer to the main prowling grounds at least " Sam sighed as he plopped down onto the seat next to his brother, slamming the Impala door behind him.

"Watch it!" snapped Dean, stroking Baby's steering wheel soothingly. 

Rolling his eyes, Sam forced out a somewhat sarcastic "I'm. sorry. car" before continuing "You alright dude? You're getting awful snappy, even for you."

"Fine" Dean ground out, "just frustrated that we can't seem to find some stupid flea bitten mutts and we're on a very fine time limit here." Dean could feel the pressure that had been building behind his eyes all day increasing and he reached up a hand to rub away some of the tension.

Sam eyed his brother suspiciously, but then shrugged it off saying "Whatever man. Lets just go get some food and re-group. I need to download some new maps and compare them to what we found today."

"Food's always a good plan in my book" Dean commented off handedly and started the engine to pull away and onto the main road. 

A short while later they pulled into a small diner that was located fairly near some motels. 

"I'm starving! I really hope they have something good here. Though hot coffee would be a start. I think my fingers might have gone numb" Sam rambled as he hurriedly exited the car. 

Due to the time limit of their case and the way they had rolled into town straight after their last case, neither of the boys had eaten yet that day. They'd had a few cups of coffee given to them while they were interviewing, but no time to actually stop and eat. It wasn't that strange of an occurrence, but Dean was usually the very first person out of the car and into whatever place they had stopped at. Dean really just wasn't feeling it today. He figured he was just feeling tired, but all he really wanted was to crawl into whatever crappy motel they found first and sleep for a week. Not much chance of that though so Dean reluctantly heaved himself out of the car and began to follow his brother. 

Dean slid into the booth opposite his brother. Sam had left him his usual place - the seat with the best view of the restaurant where he could keep an eye on things and with his back to the wall. He could be grateful for small things - at least now he could somewhat relax in his customary role of watcher. 

The diner looked pretty run down and could definitely do with some modernising, but it was busy so that was a promising sign. Looking over the menu, Dean saw that the place offered a full range of burgers, steaks and pies as well as soups and salads. Over by the counter was a cabinet full of pastries and cakes that would usually have Dean salivating. Not today however. The thought of all that food was making him feel a little queasy, but he knew if he wanted to get his sasquatch of a brother to leave him alone then he'd need to eat or there would be whining and bitching for hours to come. 

The waitress, a slightly older lady soon made her way over and, while chewing gum and tapping her pencil onto her small notepad, gave them a warm smile in greeting. "Hi. Welcome to our little diner. My name's Martha. What can I get for ya fellas? We got a nice thick homemade leek and potato soup going that'll warm ya right up if you're interested?"

Sam flashed her a bright smile and said "That sounds fantastic, thank you. I'd also like a couple of your home made rolls and a large milky coffee please."

"No problem." Martha smiled as she noted down the order. Her tone gentled as she looked down at the other young man at the table who quite frankly looked wrecked. "And what about you hun? What can I tempt you with?"

"Uh. Coffee. Black." Dean grunted, not really paying attention. 

"Dean!" Sammy admonished, "Rude much?"

Head jerking up, more due to his brother's tone of voice than anything, Dean took in his surroundings again and then felt his face heating up with a blush. "Oh. Uh. Sorry", Dean glanced at the waitresses name tag "Sorry Martha."

Smiling fondly once again Martha replied "It's no problem hun. Coffee, right? Anything else for you?"

"Oh yeah, um, I'll have a double cheeseburger and fries. Please."

"Great. I'll go get that started for you and I'll be right back with those coffees. Looks like you could use a strong cup right about now." With that she finished her scribbling and walked off behind the counter to pass the information onto the kitchen. Dean watched her go absently, embarrassed at his earlier tone. If there was one thing John had taught him, it was to always watch his manners. There was no excuse for being rude to a lady. 

"Seriously man. You ok?" Sam asked, peering carefully at his brother from across the booth. "Don't bullshit me. It's ok to feel crap once in a while you know." He was also recalling their father's lessons and knew it was very unusual for his brother to be rude to a lady - distracted or not. Usually Sam was the one blushing due to the amount of gross flirting his older brother flung out without abandon. That was another thing. Since when did Dean start blushing?

"Shut it bitch. I'm fine. Just got caught up thinkin' 'bout this hunt is all."

Before Sam could reply further, Martha returned with two steaming mugs of coffee - one milky, one dark as night. "There you go boys! Food'll be along shortly. Give me a yell if you need anything."

Sam, distracted by the coffee pulled his cup towards him and wrapped his hands awkwardly around the mug. The warmth was nice, but didn't reach all of his fingers. Times like this he cursed being as tall as he was. 

Dean smirked as he watched his brother try to warm himself. "Alright there Gigantor? Your girly drink doing it's magic?" He pulled his own mug towards him and took in the dark, rich aroma of a well brewed cup of coffee. Unfortunately it wasn't helping his headache at all and he very quickly hid a wince of pain by doing an elaborate act of mocking his brother by making exaggerated clumsy hand movements. 

"Oh shut up Jerk. And it's not girly to like milk in your coffee!"

"It is if the milk was only waved near some coffee in passing one time."

"There's loads of coffee in there!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

There was a pause while they each took long pulls from their mug, before Sam continued "You know, I'm pretty sure those broken branches had some hair stuck to them. If we had more time, I'd have liked to have got them analysed to see if they were natural animal hair, or something more like we're used to."

"Well we got no time, so what's your plan?"

"I think after I've looked at the map, we're going to have to just wait things out tomorrow. If you get the silver ready tonight while I narrow down the area on the map, tomorrow we'll camp out and be ready for whatever comes our way."

"Oh goody. Just what I wanted to do with my time" Dean grumped, slouching down further in his seat to rest his head against the back of the booth. 

Sam continued to talk about the case and various theories about the pack they were hunting, and soon enough, Martha came over with a large tray bearing their food. 

"So, one bowl of soup and homemade bread rolls for you" she said as she slid a large bowl of steaming soup in front of Sam, "and one large cheeseburger with extra fries for you hun. Can I get you boys anything else?"

"No, this looks amazing, thank you!" Sam beamed, pleased with the homemade look of the food before him. It was a long time since he'd had food that looked this good from one of the diners they stopped at. 

"Alright then. Give me a shout if you change your minds."

As soon as she left, Sam tore into his rolls and began to slather them in butter before dunking a chunk into his soup before popping the whole piece into his mouth. Moaning with pleasure, he glanced up at his older brother to see that he hadn't yet touched his plate. 

Mouth still full, Sam mumbled "Dhude, yhou ghon eat?" (Dude you gonna eat?)

Dean, who had been staring at his plate looked up to see his brother looking at him curiously as he started to spoon up his soup. He had been staring at the large burger on the plate in front of him. It did look good, but there was a lot of grease coming off of the thing. Usually this wouldn't bother him in the slightest, but today it just made him feel a little bit ill. He really didn’t want to eat that, but he did pick up the burger - knowing that he wasn’t going to let Sammy start worrying about him, which he definitely would do if he didn't eat. 

"Yeah. Just appreciating the view Sammy" he said before taking a large bite of his burger. Sam, relieved that Dean was eating turned his attention back to his own meal. He was starving!

Dean meanwhile chewed and chewed and chewed on his mouthful. It just tasted like cardboard. When he eventually managed to swallow his mouthful, he followed it down with a large gulp of coffee before taking another large mouthful. He kept going and going, his jaw aching with the amount of chewing going on but was determined to finish his meal. At least if he got it all down he'd be able to get to bed sooner. 

Sam finally finished his soup by mopping up the last few drips with the remnants of his roll. Sighing with pleasure, he glanced up and was surprised to find that his brother still had a couple of bites of burger left and a handful of fries still on his plate. What the hell? He'd usually have inhaled that by now. Still. Maybe he was just savouring his meal for once - his own soup had been amazing after all!

Dean, feeling his brother's gaze upon him contemplated his options. He wasn't sure how much more of his dinner he could take. Quickly coming up with a plan he swallowed his latest mouthful of cardboard, took out his wallet and chucked it across the table at his younger sibling saying "I'm just gonna finish up here Sammy. Settle the bill and then we can go get cracking. Make sure to give Martha a good tip yeah?" and then deliberately took another large bite and started fiddling with his fries - turning his attention away from Sam and effectively ending the conversation. 

Sam, used to being dismissed gave his brother a disgusted glance - it had been a huge mouthful and his brother really was a slob - grabbed his brother's wallet and headed for the counter and over to the waitress in order to settle up. 

"Hey there hun. What can I do for ya?"

"We'd like to pay up please. How much do we owe you?" Sam asked politely. 

Martha handed over the bill then asked "So how was your meal? You certainly seemed to be enjoying it".

While Sam fumbled with the cash to get the correct amount of bills he commented "Oh it was amazing! Really hit the spot and warmed me right up. Did you make it?"

"I did indeed! Family recipie that one. Always good for sorting out what's up with ya. Looked like you boys needed it too! Comin' in here all bedraggled like that. Long day was it?"

"You could say that again" Sam chuckled, handing over the money, and with it a nice tip. He knew that Dean wanted the waitress to have a good one to make up for his abruptness earlier on, and Sam wanted to show his appreciation for his meal. 

"Well, I hope it went some way to keeping you hale and hearty, that’s what my Mama always used to say to me, and so now I say it to you." Martha said, accepting the money with a smile, "Looks like you boys could use some takin' care of if you don't mind me sayin. Especially that one with ya. You're brother is he?"

Thrown off his guard by the last comment Sam replied "Uh, yeah. My big brother actually. Why'd you say especially him?" Had Sam missed something? Sure Dean wasn't quite himself, but if a stranger had picked up something then should he be worried? He glanced back at the booth they had been sat at and saw his brother getting to his feet and starting to make his way towards them. 

"He just looks exhausted if you ask me. Got an air about him. Don't go worrying yourself though, I'm sure he's ok. Doesn't seem the type to like too much fussin' anyways" Martha commented, trying to reassure the tall boy in front of her, realising that she had upset him. 

"No. No he doesn't" Sam said distractedly. 

Dean by now had bypassed them both, and with a friendly wave at the waitress on his way passed was now leaving the restaurant and heading for the Impala. 

"You just take care of each other and everything will be fine. You'll see. Now go catch up to that brother of yours. Doesn't seem like the waitin' type neither" Martha grinned.   
Sam, startled out of his musing chuckled and said "You got that right. Thank you again for the delicious meal", and then turned to hurry out to where his brother was already revving the car's engine. 

"It's no problem hun. No problem at all." Martha said to herself as she watched the car pull away from the parking lot with a fond smile on her face. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Checking into room 28 of the Forest Front Motel, Dean opened the door, dropped his duffle bag by the bed closest to the door and then threw himself backwards onto the bed with a loud sigh. Man it was good to lie down. His head still hadn't cleared and having it cradled by the lumpy pillow beneath him was a vast improvement over holding it up himself. 

Dean heard his brother close the door behind him and start to move about the room, putting his things down and looking about their temporary home. 

As Dean started to toe his boots off - careful to avoid the knife tucked into one side - he heard his brother empty a bag of things onto the table he had spotted over the other side of the small room. He was glad that his plan at the diner had paid off. There was no way he would have been able to finish his dinner. While Sam had been busy at the counter, Dean had slipped the last of his burger and his fries into some napkins. Then, on his way out, he had dumped the remains in a bin that was just outside of the entrance. He was fairly sure he had gotten away with it and his stomach was thanking him for not forcing more 

"Right. I've got map and research duty. You ok to sort the silver and guns - check and see if we need to get more?" Sam called from where he was booting up his laptop and spreading out the several pieces of paper they had collected over the day and carefully opening up their father's journal to an entry about werewolf packs. 

Sam looked up in shock as he heard what could only be described as a whine come from where his brother was sprawled on the bed. But that couldn't be right. Dean Winchester did not whine. 

"D-Dean?" he asked hesitently. Maybe there really was something wrong with his brother.

"Whaaaat?" Dean - whined? - again, finally flicking his boot off of his foot. 

"Um. You ok to do the guns and silver?"

"Yes." Came the short clipped reply. 

Rattled now Sam asked, "Seriously Dean. If y our not ok you can tell me. Even the waitress thought you weren't right."

"You're going to take her expert opinion on that? Some waitress that doesn't know us at all? Great."

"No need to be snippy."

"I'm not snippy. I'm starting to get pissed off with you asking if I'm alright every five seconds. I'm tired. That ok with you? I was driving all night and then working all day and I kinda want to sleep. Does that satisfy you oh great one?"

"Shut up Dean. I'm just worried about you that’s all. I'm allowed" Sam protested, annoyed with the way his brother was speaking to him. Dean was such a jerk sometimes!

"No you're not. Now leave me alone and get on with your crap. The sooner we get done with this the sooner I can sleep."

"You want any help with the silver and guns? I can come help out with that." Although he was now annoyed with his brother, he still had a niggle of doubt over his brother's well being. Seriously - did Dean whine earlier? Or was he just imagining things?

"Get stuffed Sam. And have your gigantic sasquatch hands mucking up our equipment? I think not" Dean ground out as he heaved himself upright and began to unpack the guns from one of the duffles and laid out the equipment needed to clean and oil them and to inspect their cache of silver bullets and knives. 

Sam just rolled his eyes and turned back to his laptop. Dean was fine. Maybe snarkier than usual, but still his same old bull headed brother. He'd just let him get on with it. Both brother's settled to their tasks in order to get prepared for the morning. By the time Sam was done, Dean was still working on his collection of guns, knives and ammo. Still slightly annoyed at being snapped at, Sam just collected his things and started getting himself ready for bed. Slipping under the covers, Sam rolled away from the light Dean was using. He could only hope that this was an off day and that Dean would be in a better mood after a good nights sleep. He'd need it after all - they had a long day ahead of them in the morning.


	2. The hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go on their werewolf hunt

Dean, did not sleep well. 

Once he had finished sorting the weapons - accompanied by the sound of his brother's snores, Dean had finally crawled into bed and rested his pounding head on his lumpy pillow with a sigh of relief. Relief that did not last long.

He had gotten cold sitting out in the room with the weapons and so wrapped himself up tightly in the scratchy motel blanket. This had quickly warmed him up, but unfortunately he warmed up too much and found himself sweating under the covers. 

This started the frustrating pattern of him flicking the covers on and off as he alternated between being too hot and too cold. 

On top of that, each time a snore burst from his brother, his head would pound in protest. Dean had tried forcing his pillow on top of his head but then he missed the cradle it provided, and besides it smelt a little funky. 

So, for a long while, Dean flopped around on the bed trying to find a position where he was comfortable, but not too hot and not too cold. Once, he had drifted off to sleep, but he woke up with an uncomfortable dryness in his mouth and throat. This, he put down to discovering that he had in fact slipped his thumb into his mouth at some point while he was asleep. 

Dean was completely mortified and wiped off his sticky digit on his sleep shorts, thanking any power that might be listening that Sammy hadn't discovered him doing that. So embarrassing! He only did that when he was little and he was very definitely not little at the moment and it even embarrassed him to think about it at all thank you very much. He was also not thinking about how nice it would be to just slip his thumb back in right now. 

So. To stop that from happening again, Dean had gotten up to use the bathroom, discovered his head was still pounding and that he had now become ever so slightly dizzy. He made his way slowly to the bathroom, used the facilities and then caved and took some painkillers as a concession to the pressure behind his eyes.  
Deciding that he had had enough of trying to sleep, Dean went to gather his horrible scratchy blanket and wrapped it around himself while he huddled on the sofa and read through Sammy's latest notes on the hunt in an effort to get prepared. 

Eventually, after enough light had crept through the closed curtains, Dean pulled on the clothes he had discarded in a pile the night before and then added a few more layers for good measure as he was cold once again. He scribbled a note for Sam and then left to gather some breakfast and some much needed coffee. Unaware of his direction, Dean found himself parking outside of the diner they had frequented the evening before. Grudgingly accepting that they had good coffee, Dean dragged himself from the Impala and through the door. 

The jangle of the bell above the doorway made Martha raise her head to see who her first customer of the day might be. The sight before her made her pause in her staking of napkins on the counter. It was one of the young men from the night before, and he looked even worse than he had done back then. He was stood in the doorway, wincing at the sound coming from directly above his head. 

"Hey there hun! Nice to see you, come take a load off," Martha beckoned, pointing at one of the stools at the counter, directly in front of her station. 

The poor boy looked kind of dazed but did trudge over in her direction and slumped down into the indicated place. Taking pity, Martha just poured a mug of the freshly brewed coffee and put it down next to where the man had rested his hands on the counter. 

"You're in here early. Where's your brother this morning?" Martha asked conversationally. 

Working on auto pilot, Dean lifted the mug and took a long pull of the steaming liquid. Although the aroma did nothing for his head, the heat was gratefully received.   
"How'd you?" he trailed off, unsure of how she knew Sam was his brother. 

"Ah your brother told me while he was settling up last night. Though he neglected to mention your name…?" she pried, deliberately leaving a pause for him to provide the information she sought. 

"Dean. M'name's Dean," Dean mumbled.

"Well. Nice to meet you Dean. You have a big night? You look kinda wrecked if you don't mind me sayin'. Worse than last night at any rate."

"Yeah kinda" Dean shrugged. It had been a long night, that’s for sure, even if it hadn't been a big one. 

"Well, lets see if we can perk ya up a little huh? Get some colour on those cheeks. What can I get for ya?"

"Um. I dunno. Sammy likes pancakes" Dean muttered, feeling a little shy for some reason. What was happening?

"Sammy? That your brother?" At Dean's confirming nod, Martha continued, "So Sammy likes pancakes and milky coffee. What about you Dean? What can I get you for breakfast?"

"Not hungry" Dean said to his coffee cup. He really wasn't. He just wanted to get Sammy's breakfast and go. They had a big hunt and his brother would be awake soon. 

"Well. I can't force ya, but I really think you need to eat something. Big man like you needs fuel to keep going. I'll see what I can rustle up. Just wait there." Before Dean could say anything more, Martha was away, calling the order into the kitchen and beginning to bustle around in a cabinet Dean couldn't quite see. 

Shortly, Martha came back and slid a plate in front of Dean. "Now, I don't usually condone sweets for breakfast, but I think we can keep this our little secret don't you? Besides, you look like an apple pie kinda man to me."

Dean looked up from where he had been absently picking at a napkin to find a small plate with a slice of warm apple pie placed before him. He could see the soft folds of crisp, flaky pastry, and large chunks of what looked like well cooked spiced apple tumbling out from the side of it. It really did look delicious. Despite his earlier protests, Dean's stomach let out a gurgle, indicating that it could use fuel. 

Dean raised his green eyes to peer shyly at Martha who was watching him with a soft smile on her face. "Can I tempt you Dean? You a pie man?"

Dean offered her a tired smile and just said "Thank you Martha."

"You're very welcome hun. Like I said, I can't force ya, but I think this might just do the trick of picking you up. Apple pie always helps. You tuck in while I sort out your brother's food."

As Martha turned and left, Dean did pick up a fork and took a hesitant bite of the pie. It was wonderful. Easily one of the best pies he had had in years. And he had had a lot of pies. He found himself slowly eating more bites, enjoying the flavours and textures spreading across his palate. 

By the time Martha came back with a tub of what could only be his brother's pancakes and a cup of coffee, he had only made his way through half of his slice, and was really struggling to eat more - however much he wanted to. He turned sad eyes on the woman as she put down her packages and said "I, I'm sorry. Its amazing, but I, I can't…"  
Martha interupted him gently with a soft smile, "Don't worry hun. You did very well. Much more than you were going to have huh?"

Dean offered her another shy smile, unsure of what had come over himself. He really liked this lady, and she made him feel better on a day that had started out horribly.   
"Thank you." Dean said quietly, but his tone conveyed his gratitude. He dug out his wallet and placed some money on the counter before gathering up his brother's food.   
"You're very welcome hun. You take care of yourself ok?" she said as he started his way to the door. "Come back and visit! And bring your brother too!"

Dean waved to her as he left, thinking that he might do just that. 

==========================

When he got back to the motel, Sam was just finishing getting himself dressed. As he turned to shut the door, Dean took a deep breath and gathered himself to make sure he wouldn't betray his headache and general feeling of crappiness to his brother. He really didn't want Sam to be bugging him all day, and they really couldn't afford to be distracted from the hunt. He pulled on a mask of cockiness as he strode over to the table where his brother was now reading maps, and placed down the pancakes and coffee. 

"Hey! Where'd you go?" Sam questioned.

"Gathering sustinance dude. Warriors cannot survive on nothing you know!" Dean replied, forcing confidence in his tone. "Martha says hi."

"Martha? The waitress from last night?" Sam asked as he looked appreciatively over the food in front of him. If this was anything like his food from last night, he was in for a treat. 

"Yeah. Food was awesome so I went back" Dean said as he started to pack up their supplies for the day.

"You haven't got anything?" Sam asked. He remembered what Dean was like yesterday and he wanted to make sure Dean was fine. If he wasn't eating then he wasn't fine. His mood seemed to have improved at least.

"Had mine while I waited for yours. Best apple pie ever!" Dean grinned. That wasn't a lie. It was awesome. He just didn't need to tell Sam that he hadn't eaten all of it. Besides, he knew what he had just done, and as predicted…

"Pie?! For breakfast?! Dean! That's awful! You can't have pie for breakfast. what do you think you're doing!"

Dean just grinned to himself as he continued to pack the duffle bag. Yep. Sam had something to rant about, and now Dean could get ready in piece as he tuned out his little brother's ranting about his diet. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------

A short while later, the boys found themselves once again treking through the forest in search of the pack hunting ground. Armed with his new maps, Sam took point and navigated, which left Dean to carry their supplies and weapons. They quickly found their path from the day before, and examined the stringy brown fur caught on several bramble patches. Some seemed to be daubed with blood, so Sam took it as a sign that they were indeed on the right tracks. 

Unfortunately for the brothers, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and several dark clouds covered the sky above them and an icy wind picked up, rustling the bare branches of the trees around them. 

"Dude I really hope that holds out. I'm so not up for camping in the rain today" Sam called back to his brother, eyeing the skyline warily. Dean just grunted his acknowledgement. Him neither. 

Both men huddled down into their layers, but nothing was really protecting them from the elements. They had to keep moving to keep warm. Dean wouldn't have minded this so much if he wasn't starting to ache so much - especially his shoulders where he was carrying the duffle. He wasn't about to complain though - even if he did feel some sort of pressure to whine building deep within him. He kept forcing his mind back to the hunt - even if for the moment that meant concentrating on just putting one foot in front of the other. One bonus for him was that Sam was concentrating too much on finding the wolves' hunting grounds as well to try to keep up their usual form of banter. 

Eventually, after what felt like, and most likely was hours, Sam decided that they had found the right place. Looking around, Dean had to agree, this was definitely a wolf hunting ground. They were in a small clearing that had rocks set in strategic places - making the area a sort of ritual ground. There was a circular break in the canopy of the trees what was perfect for letting the light of the full moon fall down onto the clearing. More of the fur they had found earlier could be found littering smaller branches, and claw marks could be seen on the bark around them. Although inconspicuous to most, to trained hunters, it was obvious what they were looking at. 

Now that they had found the right area, the only thing that the brothers could do was to find a secure area to hunker down and wait for the pack to arrive. They found a small thicket to stash their supplies and to wait for the right moment - down wind so that they would not be immediately detected by keen werewolf senses. 

Once they had divided the knives and loaded their guns, the brothers settled in for their long wait for nightfall. 

The thicket they had found provided a small amount of shelter from the bitter wind that was whipping around them, but it provided no cover whatsoever against the freezing rain that started a short while later. 

"Fortune smiles upon us once again huh Sammy?" Dean grunted as he tried to pull his jacket closer around himself, to very little effect. 

"Fates bitches. That’s what we are" Sam replied dryly, pushing his wet locks out of his eyes, attempting to stop the river from flowing down his face. 

Dean offered a small chuckle to his brother, just about covering the small cough he seemed to have developed. They settled in to wait, each lost to their own thoughts. 

\------------------------------------------

As darkness finally fell, Dean kicked at his brother's boot to get his attention. They had been waiting in their small shelter for several hours, getting steadily soaked to the bone, but it looked like now was the time for action. 

Voices could just be heard getting nearer to their location. Several were cheerful, joking and laughing together - although words could not be made out - but there was also the distinct sound of muffled wailing. 

Dean and Sam shifted themselves into a ready position, readying guns and double checking the easy availability of access to their knives one last time. 

With a burst of movement, a group of young people burst into the clearing. Two young women, in their early twenties came first, jostling each other in a joking fashion. Then followed two men, in their late twenties. The two men each had an arm under the arm of a blindfolded young woman who's arms were bound before her. She was gagged, and so her cries and pleas were muffled, but the indistinct mumbles and sobs could still be heard. 

When the small group reached the middle of the clearing, the men pushed the woman forward until she landed sprawled across the wet ground beneath her. 

"Look at her there. All wriggling like a worm. Pathetic" one of the women with shoulder length brown hair laughed, aiming a kick at the bound woman on the floor.

"I know right? Thought she was so good while we were at school. Well now look at her!" the second woman agreed. 

Sam and Dean hated watching this scene play out. They had known that the pack pre-chose their victims, but hadn't realised that they caught their prey before changing. 

Unfortunately, there was little they could do at this precise moment in time. 

Although they were pretty certain that this was indeed their pack of werewolves, hunters had a code that they needed to see the wolves change in order to be a hundred percent sure of the supernatural nature of their hunt. It was part of the hunter code to avoid killing humans - even if they were evil sons of bitches - in that event, they would be forced to hand over the people to the police forces. 

"Girls. Shut up and get over here" the taller of the men called. He was clearly the leader of this little pack. He had an air of authority over him that the others seemed to lack. "The moon's about to show, she'll get what's coming in just a few moments" he smiled with what could only be described as a wolfish grin. Hearing this, the woman on the floor screamed once more behind her gag and started to struggle even more frantically than before. Laughing cruelly, the two pack women gave her a kick as they walked past, going to their alpha. 

Dean and Sam glanced at each other for just a split second, readying their rifles on their shoulders. This was it. Time to hunt. The wait was over. 

The four wolves stood in a circle under the canopy opening and looked directly up, waiting for the first light of the full moon, uncaring about the freezing rain that was still steadily pouring down onto them. Everything was silent and still for just that moment. Then the event started. The clouds started to part and moonlight streamed down onto the waiting members. 

Then, everything started. In each of the four people, bodies became rigid and skin started to ripple as muscles began to bulge and stretch. Inhuman growls and howls began to rip themselves from tortured throats as the change began. 

Sam and Dean took their chance. As one, they fired shot after shot at the changing creatures, causing howls of outrage and alarm. The silver bullets would hurt the wolves like hell and slow them down, but the best way to completely destroy the creatures was to plunge a silver knife straight into the beast's hearts. As soon as they ran out of bullets, the boys leapt forwards, casting aside their guns and grabbing the easily accessible knives. 

The wolves, still mid change and howling in confusion and pain, never saw the hunters coming. Moving with the precision and skill that they had been trained with, Dean and Sam attacked, slashing and stabbing at the creatures, managing to avoid claws and teeth until with huge plunging stabs, each of the creatures hearts were stabbed - never to beat again. 

All was still in the clearing, and all that could be heard was the harsh breathing of adrenaline fuelled hunters and the continued whimpers of the bound human on the floor. 

"Sammy?" Dean panted, asking for confirmation that his brother was alright. 

"A small cut on my forehead. You?" he replied, just as breathless as his brother. 

"Fine. The girl?" Dean acknowledged, still on high alert, watching the corpses for any remaining signs of life. 

Sam walked over and gently started to talk to and comfort the traumatised young woman on the floor. He quickly unbound and un-gagged her and started to assess her for injuries. 

Sure that all of their quarry was in fact dead, Dean stalked over to the pair and roughly took his brother's head in his hands, performing his own assessment of his sibling's injuries. 

"Dean! W-what? I'm fine! Get off!" Sam spluttered, protesting his brother's manhandling, slightly embarrassed, but used to his brother's nature by now.

"Just checkin' Sammy." Dean ground out, grabbing his hip flask of holy water from his pocket, "Can't be too careful with wolves." He upended the flask over his squirming brother's face, causing spluttering and choking to burst forth. He didn't care if he was embarrassing right now. He was shattered, and his number one priority was to make sure that his baby brother was free of supernatural contaminants, not to pussy-foot around his ego. 

"Dean! I'm clean! Dean!" Sam protested, finally wrenching his chin out of his brother's grip and shaking the torrent of holy water off of his face. There was no reaction to the holy water, so it really was just a normal cut - no infection. 

"Alright fine. You sort the girl. I'll start clear up" Dean sighed, exhaustion flooding through him now that the adrenaline was leaving his system. He swayed slightly on the spot as a wave of dizziness over took him.

"Maybe I should take clean up man? You look kinda beat" Sam offered, looking over his older sibling, already expecting the answer. 

"Can it Sammy. I'm not doing the chick flick crap. I'm on clean up, so get moving" Dean replied in a clipped no nonsense tone, and moved off to start dragging bodies into a pile.   
Sam just sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to win against his stubborn brother and began to carefully lead the traumatised young woman away from the clearing and towards the direction of the Impala, knowing that by the time he had returned from dropping the woman off somewhere safe, his brother would have salted and burned the bodies and would be waiting for him to pick him up again. 

\------------------

Dean watched as Sammy led the woman away, and once he could no longer see or hear his younger sibling, he sank down onto his knees and cradled his head in his hands, letting out the whimper that had been building for a while. He felt so bad! He just needed to get this done and he could rest. But god it felt good to let that out!

Forcing himself to shaky feet, wiping away snot that had started to drip from his nose with his sleeve and sniffing to himself, Dean started on clean up duty. Fighting nausea and dizziness, he finished dragging bodies into a pile and liberally doused them with lighter fluid and salt, before moving back and tossing a match onto the pile, watching as it blazed to life. 

Dean sank down to sit on the wet, muddy ground and watch the fire for a while - to make sure it was burning properly, but also to contain it should there be an accident. The dancing of the flames made his nausea build and he had to swallow bile building in his mouth. Despite being close to the flames, Dean felt cold and started sneezing, several bursting forth in rapid succession, followed by several hacking coughs. Whining after each sneezing fit, Dean used his sleeve to wipe away snot and decided that the fire was safe enough and that he would go home now. He wanted to find Sammy now. 

Clamouring to his feet, Dean swayed against a wave of dizziness, and sneezed once again, causing an almighty burst of pain to spread through his skull. He groaned as he clutched at his head and once again gave his nose a wipe. That was starting to get sore too thanks to the rough material of his jacket. Dean collected his things and wrapped his jacket as tight around him as he could get it, although with how soaked it was it was never going to do much good. With a huge sigh, and a last glance back at the flames that were dying down, Dean started the long, long trek back to where he hoped Sam would be ready and waiting with his baby. 

A few hours later, the rain having petered out just a half hour earlier, Dean finally broke through the last trees of the forest, by now thoroughly miserable and shaking with cold, sneezes coming every few minutes, followed by coughing fits. Dean barely managed to supress the cry of relief he felt at the sight of his baby, with his little brother leaning against it idly, holding up a steaming cup of what he could only hope was coffee. 

Around a cough, Dean managed to splutter out "Sammy". 

Sam looked up from where he was leaning against the Impala. He had dropped the woman off outside the hospital, just so they could make sure that she was ok after her eventful evening. Knowing that Dean would wait a while before leaving the hunt site, Sam took a small amount of time to have a hot shower, and to grab a hot coffee before heading back to collect his brother. He was glad that he had taken the time too - he felt a lot better now that he was warm and dry. 

He was surprised at the note of vulnerability he thought he heard in his brother's voice. But it couldn't be that could it? Taking a long appraising look at the man making his way over to the car, Sam decided it must just have been a voice tremor due to the cold. Dean was visibly shivering! He was absolutely drenched, covered in mud and wet leaves. The term drowned rat came to mind. He must be absolutely freezing!

Quickly closing the gap between them, Sam thrust the coffee to his brother and flung an arm over his shoulders, gripping tight in preparation for his brother to try to shrug him off. 

Shockingly however, Dean actually burrowed into the warmth his brother was offering, making no attempt to pull away. He must be colder than he thought!

"Dean you look like a half frozen drowned rat! Bodies burn ok?" Sam asked as he steered his brother towards the Impala where he dragged the towel he had grabbed earlier out of the trunk and wrapped it around his brother, attempting to mop up some of the water dripping off of Dean.

"Yeah S-sammy. Job d-done. G-girl ok?" Dean shivered as he sipped gratefully at the coffee. He was aware that Sam was studying him, but couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. He was fighting the nausea that had returned at the smell of his coffee, but continued to drink it, cradling the warm cup in his hands, trying desperately to absorb the heat it was giving out.

"Shaken up, but fine. Dude you ok?" Sam finally voiced his concerns, noting Dean's quiet demeanour. 

Dean chose this moment to sneeze violently, dropping his coffee on the floor, spilling it everywhere - including all over his boots. Quickly aborting his whine and turning it into a groan, Dean thought that at least his toes might get warm. 

"Damn it" Dean sighed. 

"Come on. Lets go get warm. Just looking at you is making me feel cold again" Sam quipped, trying to get a rise out of his brother. 

Dean didn't reply, just shook off the towel and making his way over to the passenger side of the car, spread it on the seat and slid in, slumping down so that his head rested on the back of the seat. His head really was swimming now and he just wanted to sleep!

Sam got quietly in the car, deciding to just let his brother rest for now and started back towards the motel. 

As soon as they got back to the motel, Dean stripped of his wet clothes, towelled himself dry and got into his sleep shorts and one of the scraggly hoodies he kept for training in, shivering the whole while, suppressing coughs as much as he could. He really didn't want Sammy to worry over him. Sammy needed to sleep. He quickly wrapped himself in the scratchy, scratchy sheets and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light. 

Sam watched his brother as he moved about stiffly and quickly getting ready for bed, and then watched as he crashed out on the bed. Chuckling to himself at Dean's behaviour, Sam thought to himself - at least we got the hunt done. Maybe we can catch up on some rest and chill for a few days. He could see no problems on the horizon and resolved to enjoy a few days off, relaxing in a bar with his big brother. Sam felt himself slip happily into sleep as he ruminated on some strategies to finally beat his brother at pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter completely ran away from me. It wasn't supposed to be even half as long as it turned out to be, but I started writing and then couldn't stop. I thought another scene with Martha would be nice, and lots of little bits that show Dean slowly slowly every so slightly slip into his little headspace. I did want to end with Dean calling out for his Daddy, but I think that it ends more naturally here for now....so expect Cas to be showing up in the next chapter, as well as our lovely baby De!


	3. Sick baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean wakes up to find himself feeling very ill. During one nasty bout of vomiting, he slips into his little headspace and calls out desperately for his Daddy.

Dean slept fitfully for a few hours, tossing and turning on his bed. He woke up in the early hours unsure of why exactly he was awake. Squinting across the small amount of space between his bed and the next, Dean saw that his little brother was in his usual position of being completely sprawled over his bed, covers hanging off of him and snoring softly. That was how it should be, so what was the problem. He figured it out quickly enough though when he shifted in the bed and felt the cold drenched sheets around him due to the sweat that was literally pouring off of him. Gross! 

Knowing that there was no way he was going to go back to sleep like that, Dean sat up, intending to get up and change - maybe go sleep on the sofa as his sheets were damp. However as soon as he made it to a vertical sitting position Dean was assaulted with a huge wave of dizziness. As his head started swimming, his stomach voiced its own protest at his sudden movement by swirling and cramping dangerously. 

Flinging his covers aside, Dean moved as quickly and as quietly as he was able and swung his legs off of the bed and began to stumble over towards the bathroom. He only hoped that he was quiet enough that he wouldn't wake Sammy - he really didn't want his brother to see what was about to happen. 

Fighting against the bile that was starting to gather in his mouth, Dean gently clicked the bathroom door shut before whirling to crash painfully on his knees before the thankfully open toilet, just in time to lose anything that was currently idling in his stomach. 

Gripping the side of the bowl, Dean was hit by wave after wave of cramps from his stomach as he heaved, gagging into the water before him. Taking in ragged breaths between heaves, Dean cringed at the sour smell in the air. His knees throbbed, but there was no way he could leave his position by the bowl. The sweat that had woken him from his sleep was now cooling on his skin, leaving him shivering, adding to the trembling his body was experiencing due to the sickness. 

Dean whimpered as another wave of sickness over took him. His throat felt raw as he heaved and gagged against the vomit being violently forced from his body. Each new retch brought up more bile and digested food and tore more whimpers from him. Tears started pouring from his eyes, from more than just the uncomfortable sensations he was experiencing. 

Eventually, the urge to upchuck settled into the background, leaving Dean to weep softly as he lay his flushed head on the cool porcelain before him. Dean let his mouth hang open as he let some of the bile just drip from his mouth, trying to get rid of the horrid taste, but too exhausted to spit. An uncomfortable sensation came from the back of his throat where evidently some of the vile mess had been forced up and into his nasal passage. It burned horribly, and Dean found himself sucking in air in preparation for the violent sneeze that came to expel it. Forced backwards by the power of the sneeze, Dean found himself plopped onto his behind, legs crumpled in front of him. 

Sadly, this was not the end of Dean's troubles. As Dean landed on his backside, something broke within him and he felt warmth reach out around him. Looking down, still squinting in the darkness, Dean could just make out a growing puddle spreading across his shorts and the cold tiled floor. 

This was the final straw and with one last whimper, Dean quietly gave into the sobs that were desperate to escape. He shivered as sobs wracked his frame and only one word could be made out, shuddering whispered into the darkness. "Daddy!"

================

Castiel had spent the last few weeks in heaven mainly catching up on some of his more neglected heavenly duties, but also making use of the main library to do research that would help his hunters. Some of the materials he had access to were the writings of angels who had encountered many different supernatural creatures and their theories about the best way to deal with them. 

He also spent time with his brothers and sisters, enjoying their company - especially time spent with Hannah, Balthazar and Gabriel. It was nice to be in the presence of other angels - ones he had grown up with and with whom he shared a special bond. They reminisced on times past and times they had spent on the earth when it was young. 

Gabriel and Cas of course kept half an ear out for any word from their hunters. The boys knew to contact them for any help needed on hunts, or if they felt like relaxing for a while at their shared house. At the last physical periodic check Castiel had done - popping in to make sure that his boys were ok but without their knowledge - the Winchesters had been busy interviewing for a case and had seemed well enough. Happy was the wrong word, as how could one be happy while dealing with the death and destruction they faced on a daily basis, but Sam and Dean had seemed healthy and content if a little weary. Reporting this to his brother, Castiel and Gabriel had made plans to whisk their boys away for some little time in the near future. It wouldn't do to let them get too run down after all. 

Castiel had spent much of the past day idling in one of heaven's many gardens. Earlier in the day he had enjoyed a cup of tea with his older brother and they had made some plans regarding things they could do once they had collected their little boys. It looked like a picnic would be happening some time soon. Castiel now sat in a meditative state, enjoying the warmth of the sun, the smell of the flowers growing around him and the sounds of the bees that he so loved working nearby. 

An uncomfortable feeling soon began to interrupt Castiel's peaceful frame of mind, but he was having trouble pinpointing what exactly was disturbing him so. All was calm in heaven, and in his garden and as far as he could tell, things were relatively peaceful on Earth at present. 

The reason for the discomforting feeling came to him just a moment later. A tug came to the specific place in his heart where his bond to Dean resided. Waves of distress pulled at the bond. Knowing that Dean was hunting at the moment, Castiel was gathering himself to check what was going on - whether or not he would need back up to go and help the Winchesters. However, this plan was blown out of the water when a one worded prayer reached him. 

"Daddy!"

Immediately alarmed, Castiel moved at once, expanding his grace to pinpoint the exact location of his baby. That Dean would use that name while on a hunt was not a good sign at all. 

Cramming himself into his vessel as quickly as possible, Castiel just managed to get himself sorted as he arrived in what looked like a fairly run down motel room but not one that surprised him. The Winchesters weren't picky with their choices of places to rest, despite Gabriel and himself attempting to get them to pick slightly better locations. 

Scanning the dark room, Castiel found Sam sitting up in his bed, brandishing a gun directly at him and squinting as his eyesight adjusted. The adjacent bed was empty. Need to find the elder Winchester brother thrummed through Castiel, but although the shot would do him very little damage, healing himself was a hassle he could use avoiding. 

Sam, having reacted to the onslaught of light and sound blasting into the room had grabbed the gun resting on his bedside table and held it out before him. Squinting as he tried to take proper aim, Sam's eyes adjusted to find a visibly agitated angel stood rigidly before him. 

Lowering the gun with a sigh of relief, Sam reached up a hand to scrub through his hair as he asked "Cas? What the hell man? What's going on?"

Now that the immediate danger had passed, Castiel began to move, looking around the room "Where is your brother Sam?"

Glancing over and suddenly noticing that the bed beside him was empty, Sam jumped out of bed and began to look around as well. "I don't know! Last I saw he was sacked out in that bed. Is he ok? Cas?"

Castiel didn't answer as by now he had reached the bathroom and opening the door, Castiel was greeted with a sight that broke his heart. 

Sitting on the floor in front of him was the shivering, sobbing form of one Dean Winchester who had clearly slipped into his little headspace. A sour smell and a gentle probe of grace told Castiel exactly what was wrong and exactly why his baby was now present instead of his grown hunter friend. Dean was suffering from an illness and he had slipped into his baby headspace when everything became too much. 

Dean, sat on the floor, had wrapped his arms about himself in an effort to self sooth, was still clearly unaware of his presence. Castiel saw that he was crying gently and could hear the continued soft pleas for "Daddy".

Entering the room, everything else forgotten for the moment, Castiel banished the mess from the toilet and the floor and moved until he was crouched down in front of his boy, but didn't dare touch him in fear of startling him too badly. Instead he opened his arms wide and very softly began to speak. 

"Oh baby, Its ok, Daddy's here now. Daddy's here De."

Dean, upon hearing the voice of the one person in the whole world he wanted more than any other at that moment let his head spring up and his eyes shot open from where they had been screwed up. Letting out a naked cry of relief and a desperate whine, Dean reached his arms up and out, begging for his Daddy to pick him up. 

Not wasting a moment, Castiel moved forward until he could grip Dean under the armpits and then lifted his boy up and into his protective embrace. Castiel settled the boy in his arms and could feel the heat pouring off of his son, despite the continued shivers. He took note of the pale face that still had bile dripping off of it and the snot that was running from a sore looking nose, but Castiel didn't care about any of that. He had his baby in his arms, and now he could work on making things better. 

As Dean buried his face into his Daddy's shoulder, Castiel began to sway gently, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his boy's back, crooning meaningless words of comfort and affection. "Oh sweetheart, you're a poorly baby aren't you? That can't feel nice. Poor baby. Daddy make it all better. I know. I know."

Sam, forgotten in the doorway stood and watched what was happening. Castiel had his older brother cradled in his arms and was rocking him slowly in an effort to get him to calm down. What had happened? They had gone to bed and Dean had been cold and exhausted but fine. Apparently at some point in the night Dean had gone and De had come out. Sam felt absolutely terrible for not having noticed that Dean was so close to the edge. The appearance of what could only be De before him made a lot of his brother's actions in the last few days make a lot of sense. He had obviously been slipping and Sam had failed to notice. 

Now that Dean was a little calmer and safe within his arms, Castiel looked up and found a very dejected looking Sam leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom entrance. Looking closely at the younger Winchester, Castiel noted that while the boy was clearly tired, he was, for now, clearly Big Sam. He appeared to have none of the illness that his brother had within his system, though how he had avoided that Castiel had no idea. Cas also noted that Sam was quite clearly beating himself up. 

"Hey Sam. It's ok. Dean's fine. He's just sick. I've got him and it'll all be ok."

"How can it be ok? I didn't even know he was ill! Let alone that he was little!" Sam said. His tone was full of self directed anger, though his voice was quiet - mindful of his brother who was still being soothed by the angel before him. 

"Knowing your brother, I think that that was a deliberate choice. Do not feel bad that he hid this from you, Dean is very skilled in that area" Castiel reassured, keeping up his swaying and rocking of the boy in his arms who was still shivering. Cas felt that although Dean needed his attention and would get it, it was important to address Sam's concerns before they built into an insurmountable problem. 

"But look at him! He's a baby now! He could have regressed at any time and I didn't even know about it!"

"I don't think even Dean knew he was slipping Sam. I think that this regression has surprised all of us and it is involuntary on Dean's part. He is usually pretty good now at letting me know if he needs to be little. I think we all just dropped the ball on this one. Please don't blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done."

Sam didn't look convinced but nodded his agreement, letting out a long sigh. He decided to move off this topic, knowing that they could go around in circles forever. Changing the topic he asked "So Dean, or rather De's sick?"

"Yes. I think throwing up is what pushed him over the edge into his headspace. Didn't it sweetie?" Castiel answered, turning his attention back to the baby cradled in his arms. Dean had by now stopped crying, but had his eyes screwed tightly shut where he had rested his head on his Daddy's shoulder, swallowing in an effort to keep nausea at bay. Cas, noticing this, stopped swaying. 

Dean huffed out a tired breath as he nuzzled his head into his Daddy, grip tightening on the fabric of the trench coat. His head hurt! Why wouldn't the hurts just stop now!  
As Castiel raised a hand to card gently through his son's slightly greasy sleep mussed hair he crooned "I know. I know. It's not nice is it? No. We'll make it all better soon baby, I promise." Dean just snuggled himself down further into the warm embrace he was held in, screwing his eyes shut against the horrible feelings inside him. He gave a huge shudder as he shivered against the cold feeling around him. 

Cas turned his attention briefly back to the man still leaning on the doorframe, watching them both with sad eyes. Castiel had thought to himself that those eyes should be weaponised they were that dangerous. Sam had no idea just how powerful the sad puppy look was, and he prayed that little Sammy never found out just how effective they were at getting him anything he wanted - no one could resist that sad look!

Drawing attention to himself, Castiel gently made a request as he ever so slightly rocked the boy trying to bury himself into him. "Sam? I know this is an odd request, and if you are uncomfortable doing it, I will of course understand completely."

Straightening from his slumped position Sam asked "What is it Cas? Anything I can do, you know I'll do it."

"Consider the request before you agree to it. I would not like to make you uncomfortable" Castiel countered gently. Seeing the nod of acceptance, Castiel continued. "I am going to get De cleaned up now. I will run him a bath and hopefully it will calm some of his symptoms. However, in my rush to get here when I heard De's call, I did not have time to gather any of the things required to care for him properly."

Sam nodded in understanding, but didn't see where he came into this yet. 

Castiel continued with his request. "Now, I have all that I need back at the house, where we will be heading next, but given De's current state I would prefer to get him taken care of here first before we head off."

"Yeah ok." Sam nodded in understanding - that made sense. "What do you need me to do?"

"If you wouldn't mind, could you go out and pick up some diapering supplies while I clean De up?"

Not seeing that coming, Sam was thrown for just a moment. "Y-you want me to go but diapers for my big brother?"

"No. I want you to buy diapers for your baby brother. Dean's very much a baby right now I'm afraid. Though if it is too uncomfortable for you, I will of course understand. It is an odd request."

"No. No. It's ok. It is a bit weird. But you're right. I know De needs diapers, and it makes sense for him to be dressed properly before we attempt to take him back home."  
"That was my thought as well. If you are sure about this then it would be a big help" Cas said as he moved his hand to once again rub at De's back as whined sadly. 

"Yeah no problem. I-I'll just get changed then I'll head out" Sam said as he gave the pair in the bathroom what was probably meant as a reassuring smile and then backed out into the main room to rifle through his duffle bag for clean clothes. 

Castiel's attention was brought back round to his baby who suddenly gave a moan of distress. Becoming rigid in his arms, Dean suddenly began to frantically push away from his body and started to wiggle violently in an effort to get down. 

Sensing what was about to happen, Castiel moved to place his charge very carefully down in front of the toilet, just in time for the dry heaves to wrack through the poor boy's system. Having pretty much emptied his stomach earlier, all that came up was strings of bile, accompanied by whines and moans of distress. Helpless to do anything at the moment, Castiel just kept up a steady stream of reassurances while running a comforting hand up and down the boy's back. "I know baby. Just let it happen. It's ok, just let it all come out. It'll be done in a minute. It's ok sweetheart, Daddy's here. Daddy's here".

Once the heaving seemed to have stopped, Dean collapsed in a weary heap against the toilet bowl once again giving into crying gently. As Castiel flushed away the mess and began to once again gather up his baby, he felt his heart clench achingly. He really did hate seeing his baby like this. He wanted to take all of the misery and suffering away from his boy, but grace healing something as minor as a flu bug would ultimately be worse off for the human body than if he did nothing. Sometimes it was better to just let things run their course, no matter how horrible it was to do so. 

Dean sagged bonelessly in his Daddy's arms, completely wiped from his latest round of sickness. He rested his cheek on his Daddy's shoulder, uncaring about the drool he was smearing all over the outfit. 

"Ok De, lets see about getting you a little more comfy. Those icky clothes can't feel nice can they?" Castiel cooed as he moved towards the bathtub to plug it and begin to start up the taps before carrying Dean away from the bathroom altogether. 

As he was being carried, Dean glanced down to look at his clothes. The hoodie he had thrown on earlier was splattered with strings of bile all down the front and looked absolutely revolting. It felt all sticky inside from where he had got all hot and sweaty earlier and Dean felt his face flush with embarrassment at the damp feeling he could feel all around his crotch. Moaning in shame, Dean offered a tiny "De sorry Daddy" to the body he hid his face against again. 

"Oh baby, don't apologise for being poorly. You can't help that. And you know Daddy doesn't mind" Castiel's hushed voice came to Dean, then he felt something cool being pressed against his lips. Opening his eyes, Dean saw that his Daddy was holding a glass of water right before him. "Here baby. Have a sip of water to get rid of that icky taste in your mouth. You can spit it out into the sink" Castiel urged. Dean did as he was told and accepted the water his Daddy helped him to drink. 

Once that task was complete, Cas lead them both back into the bathroom to stop the water filling the tub. Sticking a hand in, Castiel noted that it was luke warm - the perfect temperature. It would need to be warm to stop his baby getting too chilled, but cool enough to sooth the temperature racing though the boy's system. 

"Now a nice warm bath sounds good doesn't it baby? Get you all clean and comfy" Castiel commented as he gently pried a reluctant De out of his arms to stand before him on the tiled floor. Dean whined as he was pried away from his Daddy's arms. He was so sleepy and just wanted to be with his Daddy. He made crabby hands at the angel, indicating where he wanted to be. 

"I know sweetheart, and I want cuddles too! But lets get you all clean first, then we can snuggle as much as you want" Cas said, reaching for the hems of the boy's jumper. "Arms up please baby".

Dean complied and raised his arms to let his Daddy pull the hoodie off of his body, shivering violently as the cool bathroom air hit his system. Why bath? Why not cuddles now?! Dean whimpered in his confused distress. 

"I know. Not long baby. Not long" Castiel kept up his litany of reassurances, equally desperate to have the baby in his arms. He needed to keep De's best interest at heart though, no matter how much he wanted that comforting presence folded in his embrace. 

As Dean felt fingers hook into the waistband of his shorts, his whimpers broke again into full blown sobs as he recalled what had happened. He screwed his eyes up so he wouldn't have to see the disapointment on his Daddy's face. He'd made a big mess of his shorts when he was supposed to be big! Daddy would be cross with De!  
Swiftly tugging down the by now cold soggy garment, Cas wasted no time in swooping his baby out of them and back into his arms, letting the clothing fall onto the floor. The bath could wait for a moment, his baby needed cuddles. 

"Oh De, don't cry! It was an accident. It doesn't matter! I know you couldn't help it. Daddy doesn't care sweetheart, I'm just sorry you feel so bad. Don't cry De, it's all ok. It's all ok I promise."

Castiel bounced De on his hip as he weaved his way around the room, cooing comfort at his baby the whole while. Dean just wailed his frustration and shame out against his neck, his arms locked tight around his neck and shoulders. 

When the cries eventually died down, Cas placed a kiss to his son's flushed and sweaty temple, whispering in hush "There now. It's not so bad as all that. It's ok. Let's go get you all clean huh baby boy?"

Dean once again sagged in his Daddy's hold, now thoroughly exhausted from his crying and illness, they lack of sleep also beginning to catch up to him as well. He let himself be slipped into the water, giving another shiver and a surprise sneeze when the cool water washed over him. De watched as his Daddy undid the sleeves of his trench coat and shirt to roll them up to his elbows before plunging them down into the water in search of a washcloth. 

Feeling something tickling at his let, De reached down and grabbed the cloth, then made a soft sound saying "Daddy", he held it out to the angel kneeling by the bathtub. 

"Ta, baby! Ta for helping Daddy, your such a clever baby aren't you" Cas cooed as he got some body wash he found on the side and began to wash his baby. 

Too tired to giggle, Dean sighed happily as he let his Daddy wash him. That felt nice! He wasn't so sticky no more! Feeling his eyes getting heavy, Dean faught against his exhaustion and tried to enjoy the warmth and soothing sensations of the water and his Daddy's voice. 

Seeing that his boy was fading fast, Castiel made quick work of scrubbing his boy clean before abandoning the wash cloth in favour of scooping water up into his cupped hands.   
"Baby can you close your eyes for me please? I need to wash your hair. I can barely see my baby under all the grime in there!" Cas teased, knowing that this needed to happen quickly before his boy succumbed to his body's demands for sleep. 

Obeying his Daddy, De closed his eyes, but raised up a hand to slip his thumb into his mouth, beginning to suck gently at the digit. Was it sleepy time now? Cuddles with Daddy?

Smiling fondly at the sleepy baby, Castiel quickly poured cupped handful after cupped handful of water onto his baby's hair before massaging in some shampoo. This caused as sleepy pleased moan of pleasure from his baby which Castiel smiled indulgingly at. He did so love to be able to take care of his boy like this. However, Cas didn't stop to enjoy the moment for long, knowing that he was losing the battle against De's sleepiness. 

Rinsing out the hair, Castiel then pulled the plug to let the water begin to drain away. Placing a hand on his baby's forehead, Cas thought that his temperature might have lowered slightly, but it was hard to tell. 

Gathering one of the fairly thread bare towels from the motel drying rack, wishing it was one of the thick fluffy ones that they had back at the house, Castiel wrapped it around his boy, before scooping the bundle into his arms. Giving a chuckling kiss to the head dropped once again to his shoulder, and enjoying the sleepy sigh of breath the boy gave around his thumb, Castiel began to pat and rub through the towel in an effort to dry the boy off. 

Moving to the main room, Castiel sank back against the headboard of one of the beds, cradling his precious bundle in his arms Cast was content to wait for Sam to return with the needed items. He would take a moment to enjoy the quiet with his baby, before then next tasks began.


	4. Sam's supermarket trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam visits the supermarket to pick up supplies. A very short interlude chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wasn't planning on this chapter happening, but here it is! This story had kind of run away from me - I sit down to write what I think will be a short chapter, then - bang! loads of ideas and cute things seem to happen. This is fairly short, but fear not, the next few chapters I have written will be much longer. Let me know if things are going too slow!

Sam stood in the entrance to the closest supermarket he could find and wondered what the hell he was doing. He was about to go and buy diapers for his brother. Never in his admittedly weird dreams had this crossed his mind as a possibility, and he took a moment to contemplate the surreal nature of the moment. 

But, he thought, Castiel was right, and Dean wasn't his older brother at the moment - he was in his little headspace and so he was for now his baby brother. 

Sam knew that when he was little Sammy he delighted in getting to be a big brother and loved to help out and play with the baby. He remembered spending time with De, but it was always as Sammy - never Sam. 

The brothers always seemed to age down together - either they were having planned little time, or they were both equally run down and exhausted that they reached their limits at roughly the same time. 

There were a couple of occasions where Sam had regressed while at the house and Dean had still been big, but he supposed it hadn't been quite as strange as this situation.   
Firstly, they were already at the house, and so everything needed to take care of a little was on hand. Sammy's Daddy had been around and was able to take charge of his little boy.   
Then, there was the fact that Sam only regressed to the level of a four or five year old child. While he needed looking after, he could mostly take care of himself. There weren't any special items that he really needed to be taken care of properly while in his headspace - although he did always appreciate the presence of his stuffed puppy - creatively named Puppy. Sam rolled his eyes at the memory. His little self was so imaginative!

Finally, he supposed, it was different if he was little while Dean remained big. Dean had been present and -if you looked at it objectively - had been Sammy's primary caregiver while he was an actual little child. Dean had memories of Sam at age four and five and knew how to care for a child of that age - particularly a Sam at that age. Although a little weird at first, Big Dean had seemed to accept the presence of little Sammy with barely a pause. 

Sam's first memories of Dean were of the seemingly indestructible big brother who towered over him and could do pretty much anything. He was an undoubtedly huge presence in his tiny world, and Sam was not ashamed to admit that he had basically worshiped the ground his brother walked on for the longest time. Although their relationship had naturally changed over time, Sam supposed that some part of him had never stopped looking up at his older brother as his hero. 

Which was why it was quite so weird for him to be standing here now having to pick up diapering supplies for the man who held such a place in his psyche. He did not judge Dean for needing these items and he completely understood why Dean regressed to the level he did. He had complete acceptance of Dean's little side - but he just had no experience interacting with it outside of his own little headspace. Oh well, no time like the present!

Grabbing a basket and striding forward into the shop, Sam found himself in the baby aisle before shaking his head at his stupidity. Of course these diapers would not work. Turing around, Sam located the medical aisle of the store and stared at the range of incontinence products that were available. Suddenly realising that he didn't have a clue what he was doing, Sam blushed as he had to read over the packets to try and find what he needed. 

Looking at the descriptions, he supposed he probably needed ones that were made for both urine and bowel movements, but he blushed again at the thought of just what he was doing. Selection made, Sam looked down at the product he held. The briefs in the packet looked nothing like the diapers he knew De had back at the house. They were stark white and very medical looking, whereas he knew that De had some that just looked suitable for a baby - with elasticised leg holes and fun patterns decorating them. He understood why these would be medical of course, and supposed that Cas and Gabe had found somewhere special that made diapers for people like De. Knowing that he did not have much to work with, Sam tossed the packet into his basket and hoped that they would do at least until they got back to the house. 

Considering for a moment, Sam decided to head back over to the baby aisle, thinking that he might need some other things. Castiel had said diapering supplies hadn't he? That probably meant more than just diapers. Staring at the wall of products before him, Sam was again struck by the thought that he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Hoping for the best that he was doing the right thing, Sam grabbed a pack of wipes and some baby powder, thinking that that might be what the angel had meant. 

Sam was about to head to the checkouts, when the wall of toys caught his eye. Stopping to look over the products, Sam thought to himself that it might actually be nice for him to get something for his baby brother. He didn't know if he would get another opportunity and he wanted Dean to have something to know that his brother loved him. While little Sammy showered his baby brother with love and attention, this would be a chance for big Sammy to show his brother that he loved and accepted him the whole time. And hopefully something that would make his brother feel better if he was as ill as he seemed. He still couldn't believe that he had missed that his brother was sick!

The new problem was what to get. To be honest, he couldn't remember what De liked playing with aside from blocks and cars. From what he could recall, little Sammy had a bit of a one track mind when it came to the toys he played with, and would often dismiss and skip past any items deemed babyish by his four year old mind. 

So, blocks and cars - unsurprisingly it seemed that De had the same tastes as his grown up self. Dean always had adored cars and taking things apart just to build them up again, bigger and better if at all possible. 

Eyes gliding over the multitude of shelves, Sam perused the toys for a moment before grinning to himself and snatching one up to put into the basket. Perfect. He couldn't wait to see De's reaction to the toy. Ready, Sam headed to the checkout and, with a smile on his face, began to head back towards the motel.


	5. A present from Sam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel gets Dean dressed and Sam gives De his present

Castiel was sat leaning back against the headboard of the motel bed and cradled De in his arms wrapped up in a sad looking towel. Even if it was rather threadbare, Cas was glad that it was large enough to wrap his boy in if nothing else. He didn't want his boy getting sicker than he already was by being exposed to any chills in the air. 

As he slightly adjusted the boy in his arms, Castiel took a moment to really study his baby's face. Aside from his rosy cheeks, flushed from fever, Dean's face was very pale. Dark freckles stood out on his cheeks, nose and forehead, highlighted by the lack of the usual pallor found on a healthy Dean.

Eyes shut for the moment, hiding the bright green eyes that he so adored, Dean was huffing breaths out around the thumb that he had crammed in his mouth. Castiel grimaced, not liking the thumb being there, but until he could substitute a pacifier for the digit, he wasn't going to take a source of comfort away from the boy. 

Dean was breathing through his mouth, as it was becoming increasingly clear that the boy was suffering from the runny nose that accompanied the flu. Every now and then Dean would give a large sniff, attempting to stop the liquid from running out of his nose. Using the corner of the towel, Castiel gently wiped away some of the unappealing goo.  
Whining pitifully against the assault to his nose, Dean's eyes sprang open as he tried to squirm away from his Daddy's unwanted attention. Dean's thumb popped from his mouth as he waved his hand in surprise, trying to push his Daddy's hand away. He moaned his displeasure as his Daddy started to talk to him. 

"Hey. Hey," Cas soothed, "hold still little man. Nearly done. Nearly done". Castiel quickly managed to wipe away the rest of the snot, despite the baby's desperate wiggling and folded the soiled corner of towel away from where it might accidently touch his baby. "There, all done!" Castiel said cheerfully as he hefted the boy back into a more comfortable position and chuckled at the baleful glare De was giving him. "Yes yes, I know. Very mean Daddy trying to get rid of the yuck. What was I thinking?" 

Now that the attack was over, Dean settled back into the embrace and let his head rest comfortably against his Daddy's chest, popping his thumb back into his mouth while he was at it. 

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. 

Daddy's heartbeat never failed to calm De down, and he let his eyes slip shut again as he started to give into his exhaustion. 

De heard a rumble of laughter coming from underneath him, and felt as his Daddy jiggled him ever so slightly. Cracking open an eye, De once again whined at his Daddy. Couldn't he see that he wanted to go night-night?

"Just stay awake for a little longer honey. Sam will be back soon and after you're dressed you can sleep for as long as you like".

As soon as the last word left the angel's mouth, keys could be heard jangling at the lock and a moment later, Sam was peering his head around the door as he eased it open, attempting to lessen the noise of the creaky hinge. 

"Hey" Sam whispered. "I'm back. He asleep?"

"Hello Sam. Not quite, but I think I'm on the losing side of that battle here" Cas replied at normal volume and getting a better grip on the boy in his lap, began to climb to his feet.  
"Oh. Ok then. He been sick again? I heard him throwing up before I left." Sam entered the room and moving towards the table to put down his bag of supplies. 

"Not since then no. I'm hoping that’s the last of the vomiting, but for now at least we have a reprieve." Castiel was bent over, laying Dean out on the bed gently, still wrapped up in his towel. 

As soon as Cas began to stand again, Dean managed to free his hands, reaching them up in a signal that he wanted back in his Daddy's arms. What was Daddy doing? He couldn't go now? De needed cuddles! As Dean began to sniff and tears gathered in his eyes, he heard Sam from across the room saying "I got what I could, but I'm not sure if its exactly what you wanted. Sorry man."

Castiel turned to look at the bag from where he had just finished putting down De and gave Sam a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you did fine Sam. Thank you for your efforts. I wonder if I might impose on you for a moment more?"

"Of course man. Whatever you need" Sam agreed quickly. 

"Could you come and watch De for just a moment while I gather together the supplies I will need?" Although he knew Dean was technically a grown up and that nothing would likely happen, he didn't want anything to happen to his baby if left unattended on the bed. He would hate it if De fell off and bumped his head. Dean felt the tears start to leak from his eyes as he made his whines to be picked up louder and his breath started to hitch. Why wasn't Daddy picking him up? He was right there and not picking him up!

"Sure. I, I actually got a little something for him if you don't mind me giving it to him" Sam said shyly as he pulled the object from the bag in front of him. He wasn't actually sure what to do now that he got here. He didn't think that Cas would mind him having got De a present, but he thought he had better ask - Cas was his brother's Daddy after all. He had final say over De right now. 

Seeing the toy clutched in the young hunter's hand Cas smiled widely at the man stood shyly in front of him. "Of course Sam! You do not need to ask me if you want to get something for your brother! He'll love it! Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Why don't you come over and give it to him now?"

Castiel then moved to swap places with Sam, patting the man's arm reassuringly as they crossed paths. He then started to dig around in the shopping bag, pulling out and sorting the items he would need. 

Sam, feeling much more confident after hearing the angel's words, still took a deep breath as he approached the side of the bed so that he was near his brother's head. This was it. His first interaction with his regressed sibling. Watching for just a moment as he reached the bed, Sam observed his brothers flushed cheeks and the eyes that were screwed up against tears that were just starting to fall. Dean's breath was hitching as he was about to cry, and he was reaching his arms out, clearly wanting something. It was obvious just from looking at him that Dean was poorly, and equally obvious how young he was feeling at this moment in time. 

Gentling his voice, Sam called out "De? Hey De. It's ok. Don't cry" and began to perch himself on the bed near his brother's head. 

Hearing someone calling to him, Dean opened his eyes to see his brother sat really close to him. Finally! Someone might pick him up now! He just wanted a hug! He leaned over a bit to make the grabby hands at his brother, hoping that he would get the hint. 

Sam, not used to interpreting baby signals, did not get the hint. However he did try to comfort the baby on the bed who was clearly reaching for him. Grabbing a hand that was waved near him, Sam squeezed it gently. "Hey now" he said softly, though a little nervously, "don't cry De. Sammy's here. I'm right here. Its ok De, don't cry."

Dean's breath continued to hitch as he really did want to be picked up, but he was comforted by his brother's presence. Seeing as no one was going to pick him up, Dean started trying to pull himself into a sitting position, but was stopped when one of Sam's hands pressed gently on his towel covered chest, keeping him flat on the bed. 

"Stay there De. I think your Daddy wants you laying down for now so he can get you dressed in a minute."

This was the wrong thing to say as Dean gave a cry of frustration and began to writhe on the bed in frustration. He was tired and wanted cuddles and he was hot and his head hurt again and why was no one picking him up!

Panic lacing his voice ever so slightly, Sam said "No De. Stay still. Please stay still. Don’t cry De. Its ok. I promise! Here look! Sammy has something for you!" His voice gained speed towards the end of his little speech as he worried he was doing the wrong thing. Clearly De wasn't happy and he didn't know what to do to make it better! He had no idea what to do with babies!

Hearing Sammy's words, Dean stopped his wiggling. He had something for him? A binky maybe? He really could use his binky right now. His cries quieted somewhat, though he was struggling against the snot running down his face and making it difficult to breathe when he cried. 

Sam grimaced when he looked down at his brother. The latest crying spell had left tear tracks all over his face, as well as a trail of snot running from his nose. Unthinkingly, Sam grabbed what he hoped was a clean t-shirt off of the floor and quickly wiped away the worst of the damage, sparking a squawk of surprise from the boy on the bed. Chuckling at the scowl on his brothers face, Sam laughed "Sorry little dude, but that was disgusting! Anyway. I have something for you. I hope you like it!"

Sam brought forward the toy that he had been holding down by his side, just out of his brother's reach. Sam watched as his brother studied the object held before him. For in his hand was a small toy car. Not just any car however. While scanning the shelves of toys, Sam had found what was a pretty good soft plastic representation of a Chevrolet Impala. It had the sleek black lines and smooth curves that could be found on his brother's baby. What made this Impala toy different, and what made it perfect was that it came from a range of cars with faces and personalities. He had no idea what personality the car was supposed to have, but the cool looking face painted on the bonnet of the car seemed fun. The toy was made of fairly squashy plastic - making it safe for toddlers, but it had moving wheels so Sam knew Dean would be able to get good use out of it. 

A hand reaching out to tentatively touch the toy brought Sam out of his musings. Dean had now stilled on the bed and was staring at the toy in wonder, but his eyes flicked curiously over to Sam, silently asking if it was ok for him to touch. 

"Go ahead little man. I bought it for you. It's yours!" Sam smiled at his brother, who did then reach to pluck the car from his brother's large hand to clutch tightly in his own hand.  
Sam wasn't sure what De was thinking, when suddenly Dean waved his hand about in the air as he squealed in excitement crying "Car!" happily. 

"You like it De?" Sam asked in confirmation though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. Joy was shining from sparkling green eyes and Sam marvelled at how it was him who put the shy smile he could see onto his brother's face. 

De looked at the toy in front of him. It was his Baby! And it was from his Sammy! It was so squishy! Dean gurgled a happy "Sammy!", hoping to convey how much he liked his present. 

"I think he loves it Sam" came the deep voice from behind Sam, startling out of the bubble he had unknowingly created around himself during their interaction. All of Sam's focus had been on Dean. Turning so he could see the angel who had addressed him, Sam saw that Castiel was now stood by the end of the bed, diapering supplies stacked in a neat pile just to the left of Dean's feet. 

"You think so?" Sam asked as he took one more look at his brother, who was holding the car in front of him and fiddling with one of its wheels. 

"I know so. Thank you for getting it for him. I can tell it will be one of his favourites" Castiel confirmed. 

Smiling and nodding that he had heard, Sam took one last look at his brother's face, then stood to go stand next to the angel. Realising what was about to happen next, Sam decided that he wasn't sure he wanted to see and made an excuse to keep himself out of the way. "So I guess when you get De dressed we'll be heading off?"

"I had thought to do so, yes."

"I'll um, I'll pack up our stuff then" Sam said as he blushed, then moved off to begin his task before Cas could even comment. 

Chuckling, as he knew exactly why Sam had rushed off, Castiel clapped his hands, drawing his baby's attention his way. "Right then baby boy. Let's get you all taken care of, then we can go home. that sound good? Yeah I think that sounds good." Castiel kept up a cheerful conversation as he pulled away the towel, and made sure that Dean was properly dried off. He unfolded one of the diapers and slid it under his baby's bottom, before liberally sprinkling the whole area with baby powder. The diaper wasn't what he was used to using, and wouldn't be as good for his baby to move around in compared to the ones they had back at the house, but it would do the job for now. Castiel knew that Sam had had limited options to choose from and he had done very well considering. Taping the diaper together securely, Castiel then reached down and helped to leaver Dean into a sitting position. Dean moaned at the wave of dizziness that came over him at the change in height, but did not look like he was going to be sick again, which Castiel was extremely grateful for. 

Next, Castiel had to work to pry away De's new prize from his hands as he needed to get a t-shirt onto his baby. It would only be for the short term until Cas could get Dean into something more appropriate once they reached the house. "Come on baby. Put the Impala down. I promise you'll get him right back once you're dressed." As soon as Dean reluctantly released his toy, Cas pulled the t-shirt on. Almost immediately Dean snatched his toy up, and stuffed the front of the car into his mouth to chew on. 

Once again, Castiel wasn't thrilled at this development, but until he could get a pacifier, he wasn't going to get in a fight with a cranky baby. 

"There. All done sweetheart. We can go home now!" Castiel said as he lifted the baby to settle against his hip. He wasn't going to get Dean more dressed for the very short trip, but now that he was protected with a diaper, it didn’t really matter what he had on. 

Dean sighed in relief now that he was back in his Daddy's arms. Exactly where he wanted to be. He snuggled into the safety of the embrace and rested his head on his Daddy's shoulder once more. He let one hand twist into his Daddy's coat - he wasn't letting go again any time soon! - and gripped his new prize tightly with the other. The car was pretty good to chew on! Warm in his Daddy's arms, Dean stopped fighting against his tired eyes, and let himself drift off into an exhausted sleep. 

Sam had finished gathering all of their clothes and equipment that had been scattered about from their last hunt. It was a quick job as Sam was used to having to pack up at a moment's notice due to his life time of practice. Once he had gathered up their bags, he turned to find that Castiel was waiting for him with a sleeping De cradled protectively in his arms. Sam had to admit, De sure was cute sucking on his new toy and clutching at his Daddy. 

"Are you ready Sam?" Castiel asked quietly, mindful of the sleeping baby in his arms. 

"Yep. Let's go home" Sam agreed quietly.


	6. Back to the house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settling back into the house

Mere seconds after Castiel laid his hand upon Sam's shoulder the two Winchesters and the angel found themselves stood before the front door of their house. Castiel landed well and let go of Sam to adjust the grip he had upon the baby in his arms. Sam, upon landing stumbled a few paces but then managed to right himself. 

Dean however woke immediately and promptly threw up all over himself, his toy car and his Daddy. Blinking in surprise as he finished gagging, Dean paused for a second and then began to wail loudly. Being woken up to find himself puking was horrible. He looked down at himself and at his Daddy's chest where he could see the wet mess soaking into their clothes and felt worse. He made them yucky!

Grimacing at the unpleasant sensation of the mess soaking into his skin, Castiel then immediately recovered himself and began to soothe his baby once more. "Oh Dean. Poor baby, its ok. Let it all out, its ok. My poor baby, you must feel so horrible!"

Sam, turning around at his brother's cry quickly assessed the situation and asked "Ah man! That’s nasty! I thought you said he had finished puking? What can I do?"

"I had thought so, but apparently I was mistaken," Cas said as he attempted to wipe some of the mess from his baby's face. "I probably should have taken the effect of our flight into account. But never mind, it is done now. Would you mind unlocking the door for us please Sam?"

"The door! Of course!" Sam said as he whirled into action, grabbing the spare key from the side of his duffle bag and quickly opening the door, holding it open so that Castiel could carry Dean inside. 

Castiel went straight through into the kitchen and carried on into the laundry room where, sitting the still sobbing Dean on top of the washing machine, he proceeded to try and untangle Dean's fingers from where they were clamped into his trench coat. 

"Come on now baby boy. You need to let go so I can get us out of these icky clothes. Just for a second honey. Just for a second, then I'll pick you right back up, I promise."  
As soon as he managed to pry Dean's fingers away, Castiel made short work of whipping the soiled t-shirt off of the baby, then stepping back just out of the reach of grabbing fingers, he proceeded to shrug out of his trench coat, jacket, shirt and tie. Dropping all of the clothes into a pile on the floor to deal with later, Cas immediately scooped De back into his arms. 

Castiel offered soothing nothings to his baby as he carried De back through to the kitchen where he found Sam idling by a counter, having brought the bags through from outside. Ignoring him for the moment, Castiel once again placed Dean down onto a counter, but kept a hand on his baby both for safety and for comfort. Grabbing a plastic beaker that had been left draining from the last time little Sammy had used it, Castiel filled it with cool water from the tap and brought it to his baby's lips, helping him to take small sips. 

"Ok sweetheart, I want you to take a small sip of water please. Then we're going to spit it all out to get that yucky taste out of your mouth."

Hiccupping as his tears started to fade, Dean sipped messily at the water offered to him, but then did spit it out like his Daddy asked. 

"There now. Good boy. I bet that’s better. Get all of the yuck gone" Cas encouraged as he supported De through the process a few more times. Then, grabbing a clean cloth from the counter, he wet it and began to mop up his boy's chest and face - taking away evidence of both the vomit and the tears and snot that had once again accumulated. 

"Ah there he is! There's my baby boy! I couldn't find you under all of that mess!"

De smiled at his Daddy's gently teasing, admittedly feeling better now his Daddy had cleaned him up - though he hated getting his face washed!

Standing back ever so slightly to regard his boy on the counter, Castiel saw his next problem. In the hand De was not using to hold onto Cas, Dean still had a hold of his new toy. Unfortunately, this too had not escaped the latest vomiting spell seeing as De had been suckling on it and Cas could see where it was all sticky with bile. 

Taking a deep breath, Cas prepared himself for the next battle. "De? Baby? Can Daddy see your new car for a minute?"

De looked down at the car in his hand and held it out slightly for his Daddy to see. Humming with pleasure he smiled at his new treasure. He didn't really care that his toy was sticky - lots of his things got sticky if they went in his mouth. 

"Oh its so cool De! But Daddy needs to take it for a while - it needs to be cleaned up so we don't make you more poorly. It got a bit yucky when you were sick and we need to make it all clean. Just like how we made you all clean" Castiel explained gently and patiently. 

Alarmed, De looked between his car and his Daddy before ever so quickly glancing at Sam who had been standing back out of the way. Shakily and with his eyes watering slightly De asked "Car yucky?"

"Yes. I'm sorry baby but the car got yucky. But I promise that as soon as it gets cleaned up Daddy'll give it straight back to you."

De thought carefully about this for a moment, a serious look crossing his face. Castiel allowed him time to process - wanting to avoid another meltdown if at all possible.  
"De make yucky? Bad De?" Dean asked quietly, mournfully studying his car. 

"No baby. Not bad De. De couldn't help being poorly!. Your car isn't broken sweetie, it just needs to be cleaned up" Castiel soothed, heart wrenching at his baby's thought process. 

Eyes flickering lightning quick over to Sam, De looked down again before loudly whispering to his Daddy "Sammy mad De? De get car yucky Daddy."

Sam, having over heard from where he was watching proceedings decided that he should probably step in here. Coming towards the pair near the sink he added "Sammy's not mad De. You couldn't help it. You're just a poorly little boy. Sammy knows it wasn't on purpose."

"Car yucky Sammy" Dean clarified sadly, holding the car out so his brother could see. Didn't Sammy understand that Dean had wrecked his brand new toy?

"I know De. but it wasn't your fault." Sam reassured as he settled next to where Castiel was standing.

"Kay Sammy" Dean mumbled, accepting that Sammy wasn't mad at him. 

Please with how the situation had turned out, and at how well Sam was dealing with the baby, Castiel chimed back in "So will you give Car to Daddy please De? I'll get it all cleaned up."

Dean still looked reluctant to hand over his toy, so Sam decided to intervene. "Hey De, remember how your Daddy gave you a bath earlier? Well that's just what we're going to do to your car. Watch!" Sam moved around Castiel to plug in the sink and run hot water into it. 

De watched with interest from his perched position next to the sink as Sam squirted washing up liquid into the swirling water. Eyes widening, De breathed "Bubbles?"

"Yeah, your car gets a bubble bath as a treat for being all covered in baby spit!" Sam teased, eliciting a giggle from his brother. 

Seeing as Sam had this under control, Castiel decided to take the opportunity to get a few things together. "Hey Sam. Are you ok if I go gather a few things?" Castiel asked.

"Sure, I got this Cas, don't worry" Sam offered with a small smile. He snaked an arm to encircle his brother's waist as Castiel backed away gently, helping to keep De safe up on the counter. Dean didn't notice the exchange as he was busy watching the bubbles growing in the sink. 

Castiel smiled as he moved away from the brothers, hearing "Drop your car in De! He's going for a swim!"

Not knowing how long he would have before his tired boy would notice his absence, Castiel hurried up the stairs to get a change of clothes and other items. Stopping at his room first, Castiel quickly shed the remainder of his clothes to put on some of the more comfortable items he wore when relaxing around the house caring for his baby. He tugged on a pair of worn jeans, then tugged on a fairly old, but pretty comfortable blue cotton t-shirt. He wanted something that he wouldn't mind getting ruined - he had a feeling that he would be dealing with a lot of his baby's grosser bodily fluids in the coming days. 

Then, once he was dressed, he quickly moved towards De's nursery. Pausing for just a moment in the doorway, Castiel took in the feeling of peace and warmth the room aroused in him. He really did treasure the room where he got to be closest to his son. Unable to really appreciate the moment , worry for his son ever present, Castiel began to gather up some of the things he needed. 

Opening a drawer, Castiel gathered up a soft pair of footie pyjamas as well as on of De's pacifiers. Then, he grabbed the diaper bag he kept well stocked and decided to just take it down stairs with him. He wasn't sure that he would want to keep coming up and down for wipes or new diapers if De's stomach turned out to be upset from more than just vomiting. 

Moving towards the crib, Castiel then picked up one of his son's soft white baby blankets to take down to the sofa and playpen.

Items procured, Castiel made his way back down the stairs, depositing his stash in the main room before returning to the kitchen. Seeing that the brother's were still occupied for the moment, Castiel took the time to make up a couple of bottles of formula for later - Dean would need to eat something at some point - but preferably something gentle on his tummy - as well as a few bottles of cool water. Keeping one, Cas headed back over to the sink where he found his baby helping his big brother pat the toy Impala dry with a clean cloth. 

"Daddy!" Dean crowed tiredly, happiness still present in his tone "Car clean!"

"I can see that! Good job buddy!" Cas praised as he took the opportunity to lift De back up and into his arms. 

"He's a great helper!" Sam praised, handing the dry toy back to the baby. He then informed Castiel, "It's all clean. I managed to sterilise it by telling him that it required special looking after, just like the big version of his baby. I figured that was probably for the best. You have to sterilise bottles right? Anyway, honestly, baby or big, De treats his car just the same, its very funny".

Chuckling, and somewhat relieved to hear about the sterilisation Castiel said "Yes he takes car care very seriously. Thank you Sam. You are very good with him." Ignoring the blush that graced Sam's cheeks, Castiel angled his head to address his boy "Did you say thank you to Sam for helping you give your car a bath De?"

"Ta Sammy" Dean said, tiredness overcoming him once again now that the excitement was dying out. He didn't however look up at his brother - attention focused on the toy in his hands. 

"You're welcome buddy" Sam said, following as Castiel started to head into the main room, scooping up a bottle of water as they went passed. 

Castiel made his way over to where he had left his bundle of supplies. Kneeling down, with Dean still perched on his hip, Castiel grabbed hold of the changing mat and began to spread it out on the floor before leaning down to settle his baby down on top of it. 

Squeaking in surprise at the cold of the mat on his back, Dean looked up in confusion at what his Daddy was up to. 

"We're just going to get some jammies on you baby. Keep you all toasty warm!" Cas said, catching the curious look on his boys face. Grabbing hold of the footie pyjamas, Castiel began undoing snaps and manipulating his boy's limbs to get them into the material. The outfit he had chosen was a dark blue pyjama set that was decorated with yellow stars and moons. It was a very soft outfit with snaps in convenient locations for easy diaper changes. De looked adorable in this outfit and it was one of Castiel's favourites. 

Finishing his task quickly, Cas then eased his boy back up into his arms and moved over to sit on the sofa, on the opposite side from where Sam had settled. Looking closely at the younger Winchester brother, Castiel could see that he was starting to look a little tired himself. 

Angling Dean into a comfortable position, Castiel got hold of the bottle he had placed down earlier and raised it to show his baby. "Look De. A nice cool bottle of water. I think you need a nice drink after doing all that throwing up don't you?" He offered the nipple of the bottle to the boy who opened his mouth up to wrap his lips around it. Dean began to suckle quickly at the liquid inside, but Cas cautioned him "Slowly baby. Slowly. Its not going anywhere. Take it slow and it won't make your tummy feel icky."

Slowing his suckling, but not stopping, De settled into a comfortable rhythm and reached out his free hand to wrap into Castiel's t-shirt. Cas smiled as he felt his baby begin to twist and flex his fingers about in the fabric, clearly enjoying the feel of it in his hands. Looking down, Castiel saw that his baby was watching him through half lidded eyes. "Hey there sleepy boy" he cooed "go to sleep sweetheart. Go to sleep". 

Castiel hummed a soothing melody as he watched his baby nurse at the water, but as the minutes passed, the suckling became slower and slower until it stopped as De lost his battle with sleep. Easing the bottle from the slack mouth, earning a very tired whine of protest, Cas substituted it with a pacifier that was decorated with the same blue and a large yellow star in a pattern that matched the boy's pyjamas. 

Moving Dean until he was resting with a leg either side of his lap, chest leaning against his chest and head tucked down under his chin, Castiel then sat back and patted at his baby's diapered bottom in a rhythm designed to help his baby settle into a deeper sleep. 

Looking back over at where Sam was slouched, intending to engage him in conversation, he found that Sam had himself dropped off into an exhausted slumber - head supported by his arm leaning on the arm rest. 

Giving the man a fond smile, Castiel whispered into the quiet room "Sleep well my boys. Sleep well."


	7. Diagnosis Daddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daddy Cas tries to examine his baby to check what exactly is wrong.

Castiel was content to sit on the sofa, his baby's weight a comforting presence to him. He listened to the puffs of air escaping from around the mouth-guard of the pacifier that De would occasionally give the odd lazy suck to. De's cheeks were still slightly flushed, but for the moment, the heat the boy had been giving out had settled down a little. 

Dean would occasionally let out a small dry sounding cough as he slept, and to keep him from waking, Castiel would pat gently on the baby's back, easing the tension he felt building through the boy's chest. It also had the added benefit of keeping his baby more soundly asleep as the coughing would rouse De slightly. The patting motion sent him back into a deeper slumber. 

Cas also kept himself fairly busy mopping up the constant stream that seemed to have started from the tap his baby's nose had seemingly become. Once he had noticed the presence of the ooze, Castiel had leaned over and blindly rummaged through the diaper bag next to the seat and groped until he found one of De's burp cloths. Bringing it out, Castiel gently mopped away at the trickle as it appeared, although what he wanted to do was give the nose a good wipe. The gentle mopping was disturbing enough for the boy however, so he made do with what he could for now. 

Quite some time passed in this fashion, with Castiel soothing his baby as he stirred and mopping up where he could. Sleep would be the best thing for the boy at the present. At least he wouldn't have to deal with some of the illness while he was concious. 

Soon enough though, Castiel caught movement from the other end of the sofa, and saw Sam starting to stir, stretching away the kink in his neck from where he had fallen asleep with his head still propped up on his hand. 

As Sam woke up more, he reached up his hands to fist at his eyes, rubbing away the remaining sleepiness. Lowering his hands and looking around blinking slowly at the soft light of the room, Sam's attention was caught by the presence of his brother and the angel sat cuddled together. "C-Cas?" Sam asked confusedly, not quite awake yet and wondering how it was that he came to the house. 

"Hey there Sam. Good nap?" Castiel greeted softly, mindful of the slumbering babe in his arms, but also not wanting to startle the not yet fully aware hunter. 

"I don't take naps!" Sam said, sounding slightly petulant, as he sat up straighter, "I was just resting my eyes for a bit". 

Castiel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say that he had definitely heard a few snores coming from the man, letting him play the situation how he wanted for the moment.   
Sam blushed and tried to avoid the gaze of the angel, doing so by focusing on the form of his brother who was tucked neatly against the chest of the man he was snoozing against. He noted the presence of the pacifier and the hand that was wound tightly into the shoulder of Castiel's t-shirt, and the events of the early morning came flooding back to him. 

"How's De?" Sam asked, concern flooding his voice. Dean was so rarely ill that it always worried Sam when he actually was. Illness seemed to strike Dean hard when it hit, and the fact that it was now De dealing with the situation did nothing to reassure him. 

"I've definitely got a poorly little bunny, but De's ok Sam. The best thing for him at the moment is sleep, so I'm going to let him get as much rest as possible" Cas replied, noting how Sam became much more alert once he asked his question. De let out another small cough, and wiggled in Cas's arms, prompting the angel to once again begin his rhythmic patting, murmuring comfortingly as he kissed the top of his boy's head. 

"I haven't seen him get sick for so long" Sam trailed off as he watched this, lost in thought. He however jerked back to the present once again as he felt the eyes of the angel watching him. Clearing his throat, Sam clamoured to his feet and said, "Well I'm gonna go grab a shower. I didn't get the chance to wash up properly last night and I'm feelin' kinda grimey. I'll probably go chill out with a book in my room for a while afterwards." He began to head for the door. "Want anything while I'm up?" he asked as he turned back to look at the pair in the room. Cas looked a bit trapped under his brother, the least he could do is help out, save Cas having to get up and disturb De. 

"No, thank you for the thought though Sam" Cas said as he let his patting die down once more. "Enjoy your shower."

As Sam turned to leave the room, Castiel's voice called him back again. 

"Oh, by the way. While you were resting your eyes" Castiel smiled, clearly teasing the man before him, "I communed with Gabriel from where he is in heaven. I just let him know that we are all here and that De is sick. He said that he will be joining us when he is able. I just wanted to let you know that he will be arriving at some point."

"Oh, um, great!" Sam stammered. "It'll be nice to catch up and have all of us here for a bit. Thanks for letting me know." Sam then left the room, heading upstairs to the shower.   
Castiel just smiled to himself as he resumed his patting, hearing the shower start up from elsewhere in the house. He had certainly caught the sparkle that lit in Sam's eyes at the mention of Gabriel, knowing that Sam had no idea that it had ever been present. 

========================

A little while later, all was once again quiet in the small house. The shower had stopped some time ago, and other than the small noises his baby produced in his sleep, there was really no sound to be heard. 

Dean's nose had been running more steadily in the last half an hour or so, and Castiel made a mental note to make sure his baby got enough fluids throughout the rest of the day. He wouldn't want to deal with dehydration on top of everything else. 

Castiel looked down as he heard his baby's breathing begin to hitch and felt the wiggling of the body against him increase suddenly. The hitching was somehow different from the type De did when he was building up for a cry, though Cas couldn't put his finger on how exactly. 

The difference was made clear just a second later however as De let out an almighty sneeze, snot flying from his nose and pacifier being violently spat out of his mouth. If that weren't enough, Castiel felt warmth spreading in his lap, as his baby's diaper began to grow heavy from the liquid that was currently flooding it. 

A long stream of sneezes then poured forth from the boy, each outburst rocking the boy's whole body with its force. 

Castiel just gripped hold of his boy and began to mutter reassurances and stroke the back of the boy before him, striving to soothe him through the worst of his sneezing fit.   
The spate of sneezes stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and De slumped against his Daddy with a long groan, completely exhausted from his recent efforts. 

"Hey now sweet boy. That's a funny way to wake up from a nap" De heard his Daddy say. The rumble of the word's through his Daddy's chest felt nice on De's poor throbbing head, and he didn't feel much like acknowledging his Daddy more than letting out another groan and clutching tighter at the material trapped in his palm. Not bothering to open his eyes, De tried to mould himself against his Daddy - the sneezing didn't feel nice. Being in his Daddy's arms and not moving felt nice and he wasn't going to change the situation any time soon. As he pressed the side of his head against his Daddy's chest, De felt the softness of the warm material on his cheek. Mmm that's nice he thought sleepily attempting to nuzzle his cheek against the softness. 

"Wait a minute sweetheart. Let's get some of that yuck away. I think you turned into a slime machine for a moment there" Dean heard his Daddy say, but before he could make a sound in response, his face was completely assaulted by something rubbing all over his face. Having his eyes closed, De was taken completely by surprise by a cloth coming up to squeeze at his nose and wipe away at his face, and he squawked in protest as he tried to leap back out of its way!

Soon enough, Dean managed to push his Daddy's hand and the offending cloth away and sat up more fully on his Daddy's lap, giving the angel before him a hard glare. 

Knowing that he couldn't let his baby know that the glare had as much effect as being attacked by a tiny kitten, Castiel hurriedly smothered the smile that was fighting to take over his face. Instead he morphed it into what he really hoped came across as a sympathetic look and reached a hand up to smooth down his baby's slightly messy hair. 

"Oh I'm sorry baby. Didn't you like that?" Castiel asked, really trying to keep any hint of amusement from his voice. 

Apparently he was successful as Dean pouted and replied "No Daddy."

"But you were turning into a snot baby. You want to be Daddy's snot baby?" Cas teased, finally cracking under the adorableness of Dean's pout - especially when De reached a fist up to rub sleepily at one of his eyes. 

"Yeah."

"You do? Oh dear! But Daddy likes his non-slimy baby De. You don't want to be Daddy's cute little boy?"

The pout grew and Dean humphed out another slightly whiney "No Daaddhhyyy".

Knowing that his baby was most likely being contradictory due to being tired and cranky, Castiel decided to stop tormenting his poor boy, no matter how adorable his baby was being. 

"Ok baby, ok. Can you tell Daddy how you are feeling?" Cas asked, his tone gentling as he settled down, still carding his hand through De's soft locks, realising that it was doing a good job of keeping his baby relaxed but also allowing him to feel the warmth on the boy's forehead as he smoothed over it. Still too warm, but not as bad as it had been.

Dean gave a loud sniff and a small cough, then stuck his thumb back into his mouth at the same time he leaned forward to once again rest on his Daddy's chest, sighing as his Daddy began to stroke soothingly up and down his back. "Hurts Daddy" came the quiet, garbled reply, followed by another few coughs. 

"What hurts baby? Can you tell Daddy?" Cas asked, angling his head to try and get a glimpse De's face. It would really help him to know what exactly his baby was feeling - but if the boy was feeling too little, he might just have to content himself with trying to fight unknown fires like many parents of non-verbal babies had to do. 

Dean just hummed a non-commital response, not really aware of what his Daddy was asking him to do right now. He was enjoying rubbing the side of his face against Daddy's soft t-shirt again. Why didn't Daddy wear this one more? It was so nice for Dean!

Needing to try for the information, Castiel decided that the knowledge would be worth disturbing the comfort his baby was seeking, just for a short while. 

Reaching under the boy's arms, Cas lifted De so that he came off of where he was resting on his lap to settle him down on the sofa right next to him. Unfortunately, De gave the exact response Cas had been expecting and let out a loud cry of protest and tried to cling tightly to his Daddy, grabbing at any part of him that he could. 

"Its ok De. Calm down. daddy's not going anywhere. Daddy's not leaving baby boy" Cas reassured as he allowed the baby to cling to him, offering him a strong hug, but not allowing the boy to climb back on his lap as he was attempting to do. He did however manage to fumble around them in order to find the baby's fallen pacifier, and making sure it was somewhat clean, nudged it carefully into De's mouth where the baby began to suck on it frantically. "I just need to get a good look at you sweetheart, that’s all. I'm not going anywhere!"

It took a few moments for De to register Cas's words, but he eventually peek out from where he had buried his head into the angel, though he didn't loosen his grip on his Daddy's shirt. Daddy definitely wasn't going anywhere if he could help it. 

Realising that De had calmed down somewhat, Castiel pulled away slightly so that he could get a good look at his boy, but did not dislodge De's hands from where they gripped him tight. Hoping that De was feeling big enough, and cooperative, Castiel tentatively asked "De? Can you be a big boy and help Daddy? Can you tell me where hurts?"

De screwed up his face and whined, shaking his head, giving a very big sniff as he did so. He didn't know how to say it. He did however offer a sad "Hurts Daddy."

Face softening Castiel gently said "I know if hurts baby. You must be feeling so yucky. Do you think if Daddy points to bits of De, De could say if it hurts or feels yucky?" Maybe that would be enough for Dean to do.

"Uh-huh Daddy" Dean sniffed. He really did want to help Daddy out. 

"Ok sweetheart. Lets try this then. How about your head De? Does your head hurt?" Cas asked gently as he placed a finger upon the boy's forehead.

"Yeh Daddy" came the sad reply. 

"Ok Baby, and what about your nose? Is it hurty? Or yucky?" Hopefully De would be able to pick between those options. 

"Yucky Daddy" said De, though his answer was accompanied by a large snotty sneeze the minute Cas's finger tapped upon the tip of the feature. 

"Yeah I think I can see that" Cas said as he once again wiped his boy's face to get rid of most of the mess. He had to wipe all around the mouth guard of the pacifier as well - though how he managed to do so without it leaving the baby's mouth he wasn't quite sure. 

The question and answer session carried on for some time, giving Castiel the answers he needed, while also allowing him to actually make his boy smile. Working his way down the body, Castiel asked some deliberately silly questions such as "What about De's elbow? Does De's elbow hurt?", or "And this little piggy here? Is he a yucky piggy?" when he wiggled the boy's toe. Some of these questions were also accompanied by small tickles which of course made the boy giggle. 

So, the answer's he had gathered were that De had a headache, his throat and ears hurt and that he had a cough as a bit of a tummy ache. He didn't feel sick any more though at least. And of course Cas didn't need De to tell him that his nose was hurting and feeling yucky. He had worked that one out himself thank you very much. Drawing on his admittedly small range of knowledge of human illness and time spent with the Winchesters in the past, Castiel deduced from the symptoms that his baby probably just had a bad case of the flu. Still, that wasn't nice. Poor baby. 

"Ah De. I think you might be Daddy's poorly bunny. You must feel so icky" Castiel sympathised when he was done with his examination, smoothing a hand over the baby's head once again. 

He was granted another glare from his baby who seemed to take to suckling his pacifier almost petulantly. He then growled out "Not bunny!", though the effect of his grumpy voice was ruined by the coughing fit at the end of the sentence. 

"I'm sorry. Of course you're not a bunny. You're Daddy's brave little man I think" Castiel conceded as he reached under De's arms to lift him into his arms and settled him upon his hip. 

"B'ave Daddy" De nodded as he let himself be carried, readjusting himself in his Daddy's arms. Exactly where he wanted to be. And now Daddy knew what was wrong he was pretty sure Daddy could make it better. Daddy could do anything. 

Bracing himself for what he was about to do, Castiel confirmed the thoughts running through his baby's mind. "Now we know what hurts De, shall Daddy go get some things to make it better?" He gave the baby's back a gentle stroke and kept up a careful stream of one sided conversation as he weaved his way to his destination. He wanted to keep his baby calm for as long as possible. He knew they had some cold and flu medicine somewhere, but in order to find it and to get the correct dose in one of the child friendly medicine dispensers, he would need to put his baby down and use two hands. He didn't want to mess up and give his baby the wrong thing or an incorrect dosage. It would be better if he could work quickly while the baby was somewhere secure. 

De nodded as he heard what his Daddy said and allowed himself to close his eyes and rest his head on his Daddy's shoulder again, soothed by the swaying motion as he was carried. He gave his pacifier a long pull and sighed as he relaxed against his angel. With his eyes closed, De didn't see their destination. 

He whined as he felt his Daddy lean forward, the height change on his ears and head uncomfortable and opened his eyes to see where exactly they were. As soon as his eyes landed on where he was and he felt the soft play mat underneath him he realised he was being put into the playpen and he let out a scream as he tried to make sure his Daddy could not let him go. 

The instant he tried to put De down, the scream of distress he had been expecting burst forth from the boy. As gently as he was able he distangled himself from the frantic baby and moved a few steps away from the play pen - watching as his baby clamboured to his feet and began to reach desperately for him, tears pouring down his face as he cried.   
"Nooooo! Daddy! Daddy!"

"Its ok baby. Daddy's right here. Its ok. Daddy's just going to get some medicine to make you feel a bit better. I'm not leaving really, I'll be back in just a moment. Calm down sweetie. Daddy'll be right back. Hang tight." Castiel tried to soothe his baby, but he knew that unless De was back in his arms, the boy wasn't going to calm down. He was too tired and too clingy to want anything but Daddy right then. Deciding to get it over with, Castiel hastened out of the room, keeping up his littany of reassurances but not looking back at the boy, afraid he would give in and not get his task accomplished. 

De wailed as he plopped down onto his bottom and watched as his Daddy walk away. As soon as his Daddy left his sight, De screamed for all he was worth. 

"DAAAAAAADDDDDDDYYYYY!"


	8. Medicine time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> De reacts very badly to his Daddy leaving him, and Sam and Cas have to get medicine into the baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm sorry that this chapter took a little longer to get out. I have to admit I had a bit of writers block and didn't know where I wanted to go with this for a while. Or rather, I knew where I wanted to end up and some elements that I wanted to happen along the way, but I didn't know how to get there. This was kind of a crucial point in the story, and from where I left the last chapter it could have gone in many different directions. I just needed to be careful to make sure that the story was going where I wanted it to go. SoI took some time and thought carefully about the direction of this chapter and I think I'm happy with it and that it will allow me to take the story and characters where I want them to go.
> 
> A bit rambly there....but never mind. Thanks for being patient with waiting for the chapter. Let me know what you think of this one? 
> 
> Also thanks for all the kudos and reviews - I really appreciate them!

"DAAAAAAADDDDDDDYYYYY!"

Dean screamed as he saw Daddy walk hurriedly out of the door. This scream of course pulled at his sore throat muscles and brought on a massive coughing fit. Fighting the coughs and the cries that were still trying to burst forth, De found himself becoming completely short of breath - struggling to take any oxygen in at all. He battled against the opposing forces of breathing versus coughing/crying until at last he managed to draw in a huge shuddering lungful of air before once again releasing it in an agonising wail of "DA-AH-AH-DDY!"

De broke down into full on sobs, releasing wailing cries into the room. The crying was hurting his head, throat and ears but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Tugging on his ear to alleviate some of the pain, De just gave into the cries, gagging at the force of the coughs he was producing. De cried and cried and cried, trying to get his Daddy to come back. He needed Daddy to pick him up right now and make things better!

De couldn’t believe that Daddy left him! De was feeling horrible and Daddy just put him down and went away. Even after he said that he wasn't going anywhere he put De down and why would he do that? Daddy just found out all of the places on De that were feeling yucky and then he left De all alone in the cold playpen. He put De down and he walked away, even though De was calling for him. 

Maybe…maybe Daddy thought De should feel yucky on his own. Maybe Daddy didn't want to deal with all the things that were making De feel poorly. De remembered that the other before Dad would leave Dean all alone when he was feeling bad and tell him to "Suck it up soldier". The other before Dad would make Dean be on his own and look after Sammy and got cross if Dean whined and cried about being yucky. Maybe Daddy went away because he wanted De to stop being whiney and feeling yucky. 

Daddy didn’t seem like he would do that, but what other reason could there be for him to leave De all alone in the playpen? Maybe Daddy wanted De to look all after himself like a big boy. That was probably it. 

A new horrible feeling made itself known inside of De - a horrible crushy weight feeling in his tummy. It was a really big sad feeling and De didn't like it one bit. It was a feeling De knew big Dean had sometimes but De hadn't had to deal with it before. It was one more thing he didn't know how to deal with. 

Unknowingly, De fell back on tactics that had helped him in situations in the past. There was a time when he had been actually little when he had to take care of himself because his Dad had stopped doing so. Shortly after the tragic fire where his Mummy had gone away, Dad started shouting at Dean if he reached out for comfort or cried too much. Dean had gone silent and withdrawn into himself in an effort to stop annoying his Dad. He needed to take care of himself and be a big boy and so had stopped reaching out for help around him. 

Daddy leaving De had pushed De back into that coping strategy and so as De had been thinking, his loud violent sobs had died down a little, to the point that although the sobs were still tearing through him, they were now silent cries. Unconsciously, De had muffled his distress in an effort to not bother his Daddy. Resolving to try and look after himself - just like how the other Dad would want him to do, De sat in the playpen, pulling on his ear to relieve his pain and tried to be as quiet as possible. He wouldn't upset Daddy if he was fed up with him. 

=============

Sam had been startled out of the quiet of his room by the screams of his brother. Wondering what on earth had caused that reaction, Sam hurriedly put his book down and made his way to the family room to see what exactly was going on. 

He very rarely heard Dean like that - he only screamed that loudly if he had been hurt during a hunt and those screams were more pain filled, lacking the distressed tone that these screams held. Even when little De had been crying in the past it had never been this loud or distressed. What the hell had happened? 

By the time he entered the family room however, the screams had died away leaving behind a somewhat eerie quiet. As he approached the playpen to peer down at his brother, Sam was disturbed by the sight that greeted him. 

De was sat in the middle of the playpen, absentmindedly pulling on his ear, thumb in his mouth and rivers of tears pouring down his pale cheeks. De was still sobbing around his thumb and every so often would cough harshly, his throat sounding fairly tortured. Other than the coughs and heavy breathing, Sam's brother made no sound. What freaked Sam out the most however was his brother's completely vacant stare. He had dull eyes and was staring ahead at nothing. 

"De?" Sam asked gently, trying to bring his brother round from whatever state he had gotten himself into. Sam reached a hand forward to attempt to take his brother's hand away from where he was tugging painfully on his ear, only to draw it back rapidly when De flinched away from his touch. De whimpered, but his eyes didn't focus on anything. 

"De? De? It's ok. It's just me. It's just Sammy" Sam tried, quietly reassuring but internally freaking out at the state of his brother. 

There was no time for Sam to get a reply from De as they were interrupted by the frantic arrival of Castiel.

"De?! De! It's ok baby. Daddy's back. Daddy's here!"

Sam found himself suddenly clutching at several objects that were thrust into his hands as Castiel shoved them at him. Castiel then leant over, and keeping up a stream of frantic reassurances, he leaned over the wall of the playpen to grip De under his arms and lift him up and out and into a fierce hug. 

"Oh De, I'm so sorry baby. Daddy's here. Daddy's not leaving you. I'm right back. It's ok sweetheart."

Sam watched as Cas bounced and swayed around the room, De held tightly in his arms. De had gripped on tightly to his Daddy the minute he settled in the embrace, both hands tightly wrapped into Castiel's t-shirt. Other than that however, there was no change in De. He still was sobbing silently and was still staring blankly at nothing.

"Cas? What happened? One minute he's screaming and now this? I haven't seen him like this before " Sam questioned as he kept his eyes on his brother, beginning to get quite worried. 

"I fear I have made a mistake Sam" Castiel responded, his tone full of self recrimination. His eyes came up to meet the younger hunter, but the bouncing and swaying movements never ceased. "I needed to retrieve some medicine for your brother, and so put him down for just a moment in order to get it in the most efficient manner. I knew De would not like me leaving his side, but I had thought he would be ok just for a moment - I did not expect him to take it this badly." With this, Cas looked down into the face of the boy in his arms to see that although the tears were beginning to abate, there was no recognition in the eyes of his baby. 

"You left him to get the medicine?" Sam asked with no judgement in his voice as he studied the objects now in his arms. He held a syringe filled with sticky orange liquid - obviously some kind of cold medicine, and a cool bottle of milk. "Why didn't you just ask me to get it? Then you could have stayed with De."

Sighing and placing a kiss on the temple of the boy in his arms, Castiel once again met Sam's eyes. "That would have been the better option. I'm sad to say I forgot that you were here for a moment Sam. I'm so used to the presence of Sammy that I forgot that you were entirely capable of gathering the supplies for me. I would not ask a young child to measure out medicine for his baby brother after all."

"Yeah I guess that makes sense" Sam agreed as he allowed his gaze to drift back to his brother's face. The unresponsiveness was really starting to worry him. "I've never seen him like this before. Have you?"

"No Sam. I haven't. I'm hoping that with enough reassurance I can get him to come round soon." Castiel said, beginning to rub a hand up and down on the baby's back. 

"Yeah" Sam said, letting his voice trail away. 

Knowing that all they could do now was provide comfort and wait for De to emerge, Castiel decided to at least take care of one problem. 

"Well, seeing as I caused this situation by leaving to get that blasted medicine, I suppose I should at least try to get it into my boy here." Castiel said, nodding towards the objects in Sam's hands. 

Snapping out of his own musings, Sam once again looked at the items he held. "Yeah that sounds like a plan. Can I do anything?"

Seeing that Sam needed to be able to do something for his brother right now in order to comfort himself, Castiel agreed. "I would love some help if you wouldn't mind Sam. I don't think I am going to be able to pry myself out of De's grip any time soon - nor would I want to. Can you help me to give De the medicine. I'll tell you what I need you to do."

"Sure" San said, eager to help, but a hint of nervousness underlined his voice. 

"Ok great" Cas responded as he made his way over to the rocker before sitting himself down into it and arranging De as best he could without dislodging the boy's tight grip on his shirt. "Could you bring over one of those cloths, the syringe and that bottle you are holding please Sam?"

Sam rushed to do as asked, and once next to Castiel, held out the cloth for the angel to take. Castiel used the soft muslin cloth to wipe away some of the tears and extra snot from the boy's face before tucking it down under the baby's chin to use as a spit rag. 

Contemplating the best course of action, Castiel turned apologetic eyes up to meet Sam's. "Sam, I think the best course of action here would be for a two person approach to giving De the medicine. I have heard that this particular syrup does not taste nice, and so to avoid De spitting it all back out, we will need to work as a team. Is that acceptable for you?"

Nodding seriously at Cas's tone Sam replied "Yeah of course. Whatever you need me to do man."

Taking a steadying breath, Castiel ploughed on "I will need you to administer the medicine. I think De might squirm a lot, so I will hold him still while you get it into his mouth. Then, as soon as you are done, I will give De his bottle to wash away the taste. Hopefully he will take it, as I know he must be hungry by now."

Sam nodded again at Castiel's explanation, then listened to the instructions for how to use the syringe best. Apparently it was common for medicine to be given to babies in syringes as the nozzle could be slipped past most of the tongue, meaning that the medicine would avoid hitting most of the taste buds. It also meant that the parent could make sure that the baby received the correct dose and that hopefully most of the medicine would not be spat out or spilled while trying to get it into the mouth of the sick infant. Sam could see why they were using one for De. He had to push the syringe in and try to get most of the medicine into De.

Both angel and human took a moment to settle themselves as they looked down at the poor baby resting in the angel's lap. Although the sobbing had subsided, tears could still be seen occasionally leaking from eyes that remained glassed and vacant in their stare. De still had a death grip on Castiel's t-shirt, but had also moved one fist up to unconsciously rub the fabric against one of his cheeks. Even unresponsive as he was, De was trying to seek some comfort, and Castiel was glad that his t-shirt could provide that if nothing else. 

Steeling themselves for what they were about to do, Sam and Cas took a deep steadying breath each and then nodding at each other, proceeded with their course of action.   
Sam bent down, and as gently as possible eased the end of the syringe past De's lips. Surprisingly De accepted the syringe and began to make suckling motions as he was used to having objects in his mouth now. Sam knew it wouldn't last however, and so as gently as he could, he pushed the object further into his brother's mouth and then slowly began to push the plunger down, releasing the mixture. 

As anticipated, De did not take well to the taste of the medicine and began to squirm, moving his head about as he tried to get rid of whatever was in his mouth. Prepared for this however, Cas softly held the boy's chin still so that Sam could continue to push in the medicine. All the while Cas kept chanting reassurances at his baby. 

"Alright De. Alright. I know its yucky but just have a little more. I know. I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry but it'll make you feel a bit better soon I promise. I know. I know its so horrible. I'm sorry baby."

Fresh tears started to pour down De's face as he whined against the horrid taste entering his mouth. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't like it. Sam and Cas saw the baby's struggle, but there was no spark of the boy they loved in the green eyes looking all around. 

Finally, the last of the medicine left the plunger and Sam gratefully pulled it out of his brother's mouth. Though before De could put up more of a fight, Castiel quickly pushed the nipple of the bottle back into his baby's mouth, hoping that the natural suckling instinct De seemed t have picked up again would kick in to help him now.

"It's all done baby. All done. Have a nice drink and take the yucky taste away. Go on sweetie, have a nice drink."

De weakly tried to turn his head and dislodge the new object invading his mouth, but something was holding him still. He didn't like it! Go away! He didn't want no more of that nasty taste! No more! 

However after giving an involuntary suck to whatever it was in his mouth, his taste buds were flooded by the familiar taste of milk. Milk? He was getting milk?

Giving another experimental suck, milk once again flooded his senses and De recognised the shape of a bottle's teat in his mouth. He was getting a bottle? But De needed to be a big boy now and big boy's don’t get bottles of nice things. Bottles came from Daddy and Daddy had gone away.

De was so confused and still had that big crushy feeling in him. Daddy had gone but now he was getting a bottle? Not knowing how to process all that was happening to him, especially after being assaulted by yucky tasting things, De just resolved to have the milk he was being given. Even if it wasn't for him. There must be some mistake, but De was going to take any comfort he could get, even if it wasn't really for him. 

Sam and Cas watched as De struggled against the bottle he was being given and then saw as he settled back to nurse at it as he normally would. Well, kind of like he normally would. De was still absent in his own skin. The baby would usually look around curiously or sleepily as he drank, often cooing pleased contented noises at whoever was feeding him. 

Now the angel and human watched as the baby suckled robotically, tears still leaking unnoticed from dull green eyes. They watched as the fight left the boy in the angel's lap as he accepted what was being done to him. 

At least they had got medicine into De. 

Castiel's heart broke as he began to rock his baby, looking down into eyes that were at once so familiar and yet totally strange to him. As he fed his baby the bottle Castiel whispered "It's alright De. Daddy's here. Daddy's here and I'm not leaving you. I'll be right here when you come back to us. Take your time. Daddy's here and Daddy loves you. So much."


	9. Aftermath and naptime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Sam deal with the aftermath of giving the medicine and Cas puts De down for a nap

Cas watched as Dean suckled at his bottle, eyes standing blankly ahead, though his grip in Cas's t-shirt never wavered. Eventually when the last of the milk was swallowed down, Castiel eased the bottle from his baby's lips and slipped in a pacifier, smiling as it was accepted readily. 

Knowing that all he could do now was to offer his continued presence and try to take care of his baby to the best of his ability. Looking up, Cas decided to check on the other man in the room. "Sam? Are you ok?"

"Uh - Uhn - C - Cas?" Sam stammered, clearly distressed by what he had just taken part in. 

Ah, Cas thought, best to tread lightly here. Deliberately gentling his voice Cas ventured "Hey Sammy. It's ok. De's ok. You did a great job helping. Thank you."

"It-its Sam Cas." Sam said, blinking and drawing his eyes up and away from his brother to focus more clearly on Castiel's face.

"Of course. My apologies." Cas offered placatingly, then continued "But all the same, thank you for helping with the medicine. Hopefully it will bring De's temperature down a little and take the edge off of some of his symptoms."

"S'ok" Sam whispered, gaze drawn once again to his brother "but that was horrible. I don't ever want to do that to him again."

"I know. It was for the best though, even if he doesn't see it that way for now" Cas soothed distractedly as he used the spit rag to mop away some of the milk that De had dribbled from the bottle and at the ever present trail of slime oozing out of the increasingly sore looking nose. 

As soon as Castiel had finished his ministrations, De let out a huge yawn and then buried his face into the warm chest he was leaning against. Castiel just continued to rock his baby, hoping that the combination of the soothing motion, a full tummy and the effect of the medicine would send his boy off to sleep - that really would be the best thing for him about now. 

Sam, also noting the yawn moved back away from the pair, but, feeling a need to be close to his brother after watching him be so distressed, settled himself on to the arm rest of the nearby sofa to watch as Cas tended to his brother. 

As De began to wiggle in Cas's arms - making himself more comfortable and giving into sleep, Cas began to hum gentle tunes. Sam thought he could recognise some nursery rhymes, but as the songs continued, thought he could also identify some of the tunes that could often be found blaring out of the Impala's speakers as they rocketed down highways. Smiling, he let himself relax into the calm atmosphere the soft noise made. 

Eventually, despite the frequent interruptions of small coughs that would disturb him, De drifted off into slumber. Castiel who had been lovingly watching his baby, noted that the suckling of the pacifier slowed and then stopped as De fell into a deep sleep and that the baby had stopped rubbing the t-shirt against the side of his face, though the grip still hadn’t loosened any. Looks like De wasn't going to be parted from that any time soon. 

Letting his humming trail away, Castiel tore his gaze away from his baby's face to check on the room's other occupant. Sam, who had been perched on the armrest of the sofa had leant back so that he was slumped against the cushions, legs either side of the armrest, completely relaxed. Cas thought he looked very very close to his little headspace, but was -for now- still clinging to big Sam.

As Sam looked content enough for the moment, Castiel once again turned his attention back to the baby slumbering in his arms. He studied the features of his sleeping babe and decided that the boy's cheeks were definitely a little less flushed than they were previously, and so hoped that the medicine was having some sort of an effect. Hard to tell when the boy could just be warm from snuggling into him as he was. 

Although completely content to rock and cuddle his baby until De woke up, Cas faced a dilemma. Now, while De was asleep would be the perfect time to make further preparations needed in order to take care of the house occupants. 

Usually, while De napped, Castiel would do odd jobs such as cleaning clothes, preparing bottles, picking up toys or cleaning pacifiers - cooking if Gabriel wasn't about to take over that chore. As they just arrived, everything was clean and there was not too much mess as the boys had not had a chance to play yet, but bottles would need to be made up and dinner would need to be cooked. That was especially true if Cas was to feed Sammy later, as he suspected he might have to. It would also be a good idea for Cas to get more medicine and items to care for his sick baby ready, so that they could avoid another situation like the one they had just encountered. If everything was prepared while De was sleeping, Cas wouldn't have to leave the baby while he was awake, preventing any more melt downs. 

However, precisely due to the situation they had encountered, Cas was extremely reluctant to put his baby down for his nap like he usually did. De was obviously shell shocked by his perceived abandonment by his Daddy, and Cas wanted to provide unwavering love, support and comfort to counteract this, whether De was aware of it or not. Cas wanted to hold onto his baby and never let go, making sure that De knew that his Daddy was always there for him and that his Daddy would never ever leave him. 

Sighing as he mopped up yet another trickle from a leaky nose, Castiel really was caught in an unwinnable situation. No matter what he chose, something could go wrong.   
Fleetingly an idea skittered across Cas's brain, but he was instantly horrified that the thought had ever come to be in his head - dismissing it instantly. He had thought for just a second about asking Sam to maybe prepare a few bottles or some medicine for him, but instantly abandoned that idea. For one thing, he, Castiel was De's Daddy, and so it was his job to take care of De and sort things out for him - not Sammy's. For another thing, if Sam was as close to slipping into his little Sammy headspace as Castiel thought he was, then it would be even worse for Cas to ask for the help. 

It would be putting Sammy in the same position that Dean himself had been in when they were both actual children. Being asked to do something to care for his younger sibling, despite it being the responsibility of the adult around to do those things. No. Castiel would not ever be taking that option. 

Sure Sammy could be asked to do small things to care for De when they were both regressed, but it was things like occasionally fetching a toy, or giving De a pacifier of he needed one. Small responsibilities to make Sammy feel like a big boy and a good big brother - not things that were unreasonable to ask of a small child. 

So, Cas was back to his two main horrible options. Sighing once again, Castiel steeled himself for what he was about to do, and prayed that it was the right decision and that he wouldn’t be making things worse.   
Slowing the rocking chair until it was at a standstill, Castiel arranged De in his arms so that he was better supported, then gradually got to his feet. Seeing that he hadn't disturbed the baby, who luckily was now in a deep sleep, Castiel begain to make his way once again to the playpen. 

"Cas? What are you doing?" came the quiet enquiry from the direction of the sofa. 

Turning to look at Sam who had sat up again, Castiel whispered "I'm going to put De down for his nap Sam. He's deep asleep so hopefully he wont wake up if I put him down."

"Are you sure that’s a good idea?" Sam said, worry flooding his expression. 

"No. But I need to get some things ready in order to look after him properly, and if I can do it now, then I don’t have to risk leaving him while he is awake like I did before" Castiel explained, hoping that his reasoning would hold out. 

"I guess." Sam replied warily. 

Moving to the playpen once again, Castiel managed to unlatch the side gate and enter the main space in order to kneel down and begin placing De onto the soft mat. Castiel turned De so that he was being placed onto his stomach - his preferred sleeping position, and managed to get the baby laying on the floor somewhat comfortably. Before he tried to move again, Cas watched as his baby wiggled to make himself comfortable. Then, Castiel began to move his arms away from underneath his boy so that De was resting completely on the floor. 

Although Cas had managed to get De settled down comfortably, as he began to stand up and pull away, Castiel discovered the fatal flaw in his plan to leave De in the playpen for his nap. 

Still clutched tightly in each fist was a twisted piece of Castiel's t-shirt, which prevented Cas from being able to leave. For when he had started to straighten up, De had let out the most heartbreaking little whine and screwed his face up as if to begin crying. 

Above him, Castiel heard a sharp intake of breath, and flicking his eyes up, discovered that Sam had come close to the playpen to watch the proceedings. 

Quickly leaning back closer, Castiel began to run his hand over De's hair whispering "It's ok De. Daddy's right here. Go to sleep baby. Go to sleep."

As De settled back into a deeper sleep, Cas contemplated his options once again. Obviously De wasn't going to let go of his t-shirt without waking up. So, it looked like he would either have to stay with De as he slept or he could pry his shirt out of De's grip and risk waking him up. 

Or…

A third option sprang to Castiel's mind, and ever so slowly, Castiel moved so that his hands were gripping the back hem of his t-shirt, and ever so carefully began to pull it upwards so that he could wriggle out of it. Bending and twisting in awkward positions, occasionally causing a pull that would result in a muted distressed whine, Castiel eventually managed to slip himself free of his t-shirt and once again began to immediately soothe his baby into a deeper sleep. 

As he stroked De's hair and cooed sweet nothings to the baby, urging him to stay asleep, Castiel watched as De brought his prize close up to his face and began to snuggle it right into his face, sighing deeply around his pacifier as he slept deeper. 

Sitting back on his heels to watch the sleeping baby and silently congratulating himself, Castiel became aware of a new sound. 

Glancing up he came face to face with a red faced, shaking Sam who had stuffed his fingers into his mouth in an effort to stop his hysterical laughter. 

Glaring at Sam, Castiel waited until the younger man's giggles had subsided. 

Whispering so as not to wake his sleeping brother, Sam's shoulders still shook as he chuckled "That was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen! I didn't know you could bend that way!"

"Shut up Sam" Cas huffed, but allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he regarded the hunter towering above him. 

"Seriously man! You should have seen yourself! I thought you had stopped breathing at one point when De started to wiggle!"

"Yes. Well. At least he didn't wake up" Cas said as he clamboured to his feet and came to stand next to Sam as he once again looked down at his baby. 

"Yeah, well done man." Sam whispered as he clapped Cas on the bare back and joined the angel once again in solemn contemplation. 

After a few moments Castiel spoke up saying "Well, I suppose I had better start my tasks. Best get them done before he wakes up and realises I am not here again." Looking at Sam again he continued "What are you going to do?"

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "Um. Actually. If you don’t mind…" he trailed off. 

"What is it Sam?" Castiel asked gently.

"Well. I thought I might stay with De for a while. I know you need to be busy, but at least if I'm here then he won't be alone if he suddenly wakes up." Sam explained shyly, ducking his head so that his hair hid part of his face. 

Placing a hand on Sam's shoulder and turning him gently so that the tall man had to look at him, Castiel replied "I think that is a wonderful and very thoughtful idea Sam. I'm sure De will be comforted by your presence, even while he is still sleeping."

Sam blushed at the praise and ducked his head again. Giving the man a moment to compose himself, Castiel moved away to where he had placed the small amount of supplies earlier and gathered up the white crib blankets which he returned with a spread over his sleeping son, tucking them in slightly to keep the boy warm. 

As Cas moved back, Sam moved forward to sit himself down on the floor next to De and started to watch him again carefully. 

Castiel moved back around to grip the playpen gate that he had left open earlier and softly said "Sam, I need to close this gate again, just to make sure that De is safe. I know you won't let anything happen to him, it's just an extra safety measure. You of course will be able to get out if you want to, but it will keep De in."

Nodding up at the angel, Sam agreed saying "Sure Cas I understand, it's no problem."

Cas also flicked on the baby monitor that was always clipped to the side of the pen. "I'll be in the kitchen and about the house then." Gesturing to the monitor he continued "If you need anything, just call out and I'll hear you."

His attention once again on his brother, Sam absently replied "Alright Cas". 

Reassured that his baby wouldn't be alone, Castiel bent down to kiss his baby's soft hair whispering "Sleep well baby. I love you." He then straightened slightly, and after a seconds contemplation swooped a quick kiss to Sam's head also saying "Thank you Sam. You are a great brother" before hurriedly walking away, leaving a furiously blushing Sam gaping after him. 

As Sam's flaming cheeks eventually began to return to their normal colour, Sam let his attention turn back to his sleeping brother once again. Sam studied the pale freckled face, and watched as the mouth guard of the pacifier bobbed each time De breathed. Sighing before lying down on his side and resting a hand on his brother's back, Sam said "Feel better De. Sleep well. I'm here."


	10. Here comes Uncle Gabe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam takes a nap, Castiel contemplates cooking, and Uncle Gabe makes and appearance

Sam sat watching his brother sleep for some time before he felt tiredness start to creep up on him again. However, as he had inadvertently fallen asleep earlier, he decided to fight the hold it was taking on him. He focused his attention onto his brother, wincing every time the sleeping man would sniff or cough in his sleep, willing him not to wake up. 

Eventually however Sam's attention started to drift and he found himself using the free hand that was not resting on his brother to fiddle with some of the blocks that were scattered about around him. Sam idly stacked the blocks for a while- creating a tower, but found he was having to bring his hand up to rub at his tired eyes. 

Conceding to his tiredness just a little, Sam lay himself down onto his side next to De and pulled the blanket covering De to drape over himself as well. From this angle, Sam could now see that there was a large trail of green snot leaking from his brother's nose and so as gently as he could, Sam used part of Cas's t-shirt to mop it up as best he could - grimacing the whole time. He could deal with blood and guts, but mopping up someone else's snot was just gross!

Content that De was as comfortable as he could make him, Sam settled back to watch him sleep again. He really hoped that when his brother was awake that he would be back to himself again. It was really disturbing to see the blankness in the usually hugely expressive green eyes. 

One thing Sam had always been able to count on was that no matter how much Dean managed to shield himself, or to put on a blank mask, his eyes always betrayed what exactly he was feeling. To be completely blank was really worrying. Especially so given that compared to Dean, De really wore his heart on his sleeve. Something about being a baby made it so that De couldn't mask his emotions and so released them without hesitation. Thus he gave into crying if he was upset, or giggling without abandon when he was having fun or happy. 

As these thoughts raced through Sam's head, he found his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, until eventually they fell closed and stayed closed. Un-noticed by Sam, De had squirmed to face his brother and was burying himself into the warm body next to him, and Sam had opened his eyes to accommodate the boy. As Sam drifted into sleep himself, he tightened his grip on his brother - protecting him even while he slept. 

=======

As Sam was drifting off to sleep in the playpen, Castiel was making himself busy, preparing things just like promised. First things first Cas retrieved and slipped on a new t-shirt and then gathered the medicine to make up several syringe doses and placed them in the fridge to keep as he had a feeling he was going to need them over the next day or two.   
Then Castiel made up several bottles of both the special formula (designed to provide the nutrients that an adult would need) and also water before also placing them in the fridge. gathering an item he hadn't used before, Cas also put that into the fridge, thinking to try it out and see if it provided any relief for his poorly baby. 

Contemplating his next move, Castiel decided that he should probably take care of the mess from earlier before he started dinner, and so quickly went to put on a load of washing - getting rid of the vomit covered clothes before and stains could set in. 

As he made his way back towards the kitchen to begin making some dinner, Cas popped his head into the family room to check on the boys. What he found made him smile and he leant on the doorframe to watch for just a moment. Sam had evidently given in to sleep once again and was now on the floor of the playpen curled around his little brother. De, for his part had squirmed himself into a position where he was slightly buried into his brother's side. He still had a death grip on Cas's t-shirt, but had managed to snake a hand up to twist his fingers in the long hair of his brother. It was, frankly, adorable. Grabbing the first thing that came to hand - which happened to be the phone Sam had abandoned on the table earlier, Cas crept forward and snapped a few pictures of the boys, definitely wanting to keep on and also show one to Gabe when he showed up. 

As he was now by the playpen, Cas reached down and tucked a stray bit of hair behind Sam's ear to stop it from tickling the boy's nose, and also adjusted the blanket so that each boy was properly covered. Not wanting to disturb the boys further, Cas crept back towards the kitchen - knowing that his time could be up at any moment and decided to start tackling dinner. 

This was actually quite a problem. Although he could do many things, Castiel knew that he just could not cook. There was definitely a reason that Gabriel did all of the cooking if he was around. If Cas was just looking after De, then he could cope as De could technically live off and was content to be fed bottles - topped up with bits of fruit, cheese and cut up raw vegetables that Cas was able to prepare. If Gabriel was around but Dean was around the place while big, then he took over cooking duties, sparing Cas any embarrassment. 

No. It was when Gabriel was absent and both little De and Sammy were alone with Cas that problems arose. Sammy would need to eat, and would not be at all pleased to be offered formula like his brother. 

As Castiel was fairly sure that it would be Sammy greeting him when he awoke again, Cas was going to need to find something good to feed him. If, by any chance it was Sam, then if he didn't like what was on offer then he could fend for himself, but Cas seriously thought it was unlikely by how much Sam had been slipping throughout the day. 

What to make though? It would need to be something nutritious - full of the vegetables that the boys often struggled to get on the road. Also something appealing to a small boy, and something that a baby could eat without too much trouble. 

Thinking about what he could do the least damage with, Cas decided on macaroni cheese and mixed vegetables on the side - carrots, peas and sweet corn. Cas began by chopping up carrots into small sticks and then placed them and the other vegetables in a pan of water to be cooked later. Then, he moved on to grating cheese which was also something not so complicated. 

Taking a deep breath, Castiel then decided to start boiling water for the pasta and to make the sauce for the macaroni. Just as he was about to turn on the hob, a voice behind him made him stop - hand hovering above the knob. 

"What. on. earth. do you think you are doing?! Please tell me that you were not about to try and cook."

Sighing in relief and feeling his shoulder's drop from their tense position Cas deadpanned "Alright. I won't tell you", then turned and came face to face with his smirking, golden haired brother. 

"Well thank goodness for that! Now I won't have to smite you for attempting to poison my little boy", Gabriel teased as he crossed the room and clasped a hand on the dark haired angel's shoulder. He then asked "So, where is my little man? And I hear you have a poorly baby on your hands?"

"I'm not sure Sammy is here just yet, but I know he will be making an appearance very soon. Sam, fell asleep while watching De nap in the playpen. And yes, De really is quite ill. It seems to be a case of the flu and not something more serious luckily, but he is feeling horrible and is being really clingy at the moment" Cas explained, taking comfort from the presence of his brother. Now at least he would not be on his own to cope with a toddler and a baby. He had a feeling that De's illness was going to make the next few days hard, and he was grateful for any support he could get. 

Reading the conflicting worry and relief flooding through his little brother, Gabriel teased, "Well I'm here to help now bro. And we don’t have to worry about you making any one else ill with your cooking! Just concentrate on your baby boy, and I'll help you out with whatever you need. You don't have to do this on your own Cas," he finished supportively. 

"Thank you Gabriel", Castiel said sincerely. 

"Now", Gabe said as he clapped his hand on the younger angel's shoulder again, "Let's go check on those boys. I'm sure you are anxious to get back to De, and I would like to see my boy - whatever state he may be in. 

Making their way through to the family room, Castiel filled Gabriel in to the events of the last day or so and about De's breakdown and withdrawal, watching as Gabriel's face showed more and more concern as the tale progressed. Castiel knew that Gabriel loved Dean, just as much as he himself did for Sam, but it was moments like this that really highlighted the depth of the feeling. 

Gabriel smiled sadly at the sight of the cuddled up brothers, and watched as De occasionally coughed, sniffed and snuffled in his sleep. 

As the angel brothers stood at the side of the playpen, Gabriel commented "Well we knew that Dean had serious abandonment issues, but it looks like they have carried over to De as well. De knows how much he is loved Cas, I'm sure he's just overwhelmed because of the illness. He'll be back to himself soon, I'm sure of it. Just keep doing what you are doing and be there for him."

Sighing, Castiel replied, "I know you are right. It is just so hard seeing him like that and being unable to do anything."

"I know. But he'll come through it. I don’t envy you the next few days though - he's clingy enough as a baby anyway. I can’t imagine how he'll be now!" Gabriel said, smirking once again at his brother, hoping to draw his thoughts away from being quite so gloomy. 

Huffing in response Castiel just glowered at his brother deadpanning "Thank you Gabe. You're all heart."

The smirk turned into a mega-watt grin. "You're welcome bro! I'm always happy to help!"

The light chatter from above gently brought Sammy around from his sleep. Peeking his eyes open, Sammy was immediately greeted by the sight of the top of his baby brother's head. Unsure of what was happening, he took a moment to dredge through sleepy thoughts and remembered that big him had gone to sleep in the playpen to look after his brother who was sick. Poor De!

Sammy remembered that he was helping his Uncle Cas with the baby, and so was confused when he heard two voices from above him instead of one. Turning to rest more on his back than his side Sammy peered again through tired eyes to find both his uncle and his Daddy standing by the railing of the playpen. 

Daddy! Daddy was here! Awesome! Sammy had missed his Daddy!

Wiggling a little bit, but not able to move too much because De was draped all over him, Sammy quietly called out "Daddy!", instantly drawing two sets of eyes down onto him.   
Gabriel looked lovingly at his sleepy boy and softly greeted "Hey there Sammy! Hold on a sec there buddy and we'll get you out of there."

Castiel and Gabriel moved as one to reach down and free their child from their sleepy bundle. Castiel worked to untangle De's fingers from Sammy's hair, and before the baby could build his small whines up into cries and wake fully, Castiel was scooping the boy up and out of the playpen to cradle him and sooth him back into a deeper sleep, once again safe in his arms. 

Gabriel meanwhile was helping to untangle De and then reached under Sammy's armpits to lift his own boy up and into a squeezing hug. 

As soon as Sammy was in Gabriel's arms he began saying "Hey buddy! I missed you! Did you have a good nap with De?"

"Hi Daddy!" Sammy beamed in response, instantly awake and very excited to see his Daddy again! He gave Gabriel a huge hug from his new position on his Daddy's hip, and made no attempt to get down like he normally would - content to enjoy the hug. Then, actually registering his Daddy's words he pulled back slightly to scowl, "I don't take naps Daddy! I'm a big boy!"

"Oh of course. I'm so sorry Sammy, " Gabriel apologised, making sure to respond seriously to his put out child, despite the face that he wanted to chuckle at the fact that the boy had definitely been napping quite contentedly. "What were you doing in the playpen then?"

"Was helping Uncle Cas Daddy!" Sammy stated decisively. His face then turned a little sad and worried as he informed Gabriel, "De's not feeling well Daddy. He was all sick and then he sneezed everywhere and it was gross and then he cried lots and lots Daddy. I didn't like it Daddy."

"Oh I know Sammy. Your little brother's a poorly little baby at the moment and it's not much fun. But Uncle Cas said that you have been such a big help!"

"Yeah Daddy," Sammy said, remembering what big Sam had been doing, "Helped look after De Daddy."

From where he was stood, De braced against his chest and cradling the back of the baby's head where it was resting on his shoulder, Castiel chimed in, "You were such a big help Sammy. De has the best big brother ever."

"I'm proud of you little man! Such a good boy!" Gabriel praised as he pressed a kiss to the side of his boy's head. 

Sammy smiled happily, pleased with the praise and that he had been a big help. He liked that he made his Daddy and uncle happy. 

Just then, a loud gurgling noise interrupted the happy moment and Sammy looked down at his tummy in shock. "My tummy is talking Daddy!"

"Oh my goodness Sammy! I don't think that was your tummy! I think you have a monster under your shirt!"

Sammy, knowing what was coming immediately began to squirm to get down as Castiel chuckled from where he was nearby.

"No! No Daddy! Was my tummy!"

"Oh I'm not sure! I really think I had better check" Gabriel laughed as he set the boy down, but before he could get far, he whipped up the shirt and began to tickle the tummy saying "Come out monster! Get away from my Sammy!"

Giggles pealed through the room as Sammy tried to escape his Daddy and Gabriel continued to tickle relentlessly. At a loud cough from De however, Gabriel eased off, not wanting to wake the baby. 

"Ah. Maybe you're right Sammy. I can't find any monsters in there!"

Breathless and still giggling Sammy crowed "Told you it was my tummy Daddy! My tummy says its hungry!"

"It does?! Well we better go get some food in it! That sound like a plan little man?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah! That rhymes Daddy!" Sammy said still giggling. 

"Wow! That's awesome!" Gabriel exclaimed as he took Sammy's hand and began to lead his boy through to the kitchen. "Let's see what we can get you for dinner. Uncle Cas started to make food, but luckily Daddy came to save the day. Remember when Uncle Cas managed to burn pasta and all there was all that smoke?" 

Gabriel continued to chat to his little boy as they made their way out of the room, but he shot a teasing grin towards Cas over his shoulder. 

Castiel rolled his eyes as he began to follow the pair, carrying his sleeping baby with him, t-shirt being trailed on the ground from where it was still clutched tight De's dangling fist.


	11. Waking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel thinks and De wakes up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A really short chapter here where nothing really happens. Just a lot of thinking and a bit of an insight into what Cas is thinking mainly. More will happen in coming chapters, but here felt like a good place to stop, despite the shortness of the chapter. Let me know what you think!  
> This isn't edited, I have a migraine and dont feel up to it. Please point out anything that doesnt make sense. I just felt like getting something out, even if I should probably be asleep right now.

Entering the kitchen, Castiel settled himself down onto one of the chairs by the kitchen table and readjusted De so that he was resting more comfortably against his chest. He made sure that De's head was tucked into a secure position on his shoulder in a way that didn’t hinder the boy's already laboured breathing or push awkwardly on the mouth guard of the pacifier. 

Cas glanced over to where Gabriel was helping Sammy to make up some cheese sauce for the macaroni and, seeing that they were happily engaged, allowed himself to return his focus entirely onto his baby. 

Just from having De back in his arms, Cas could tell that the baby was not himself. Besides the obvious tells of illness - the pale skin, flushed cheeks, snotty nose and frequent coughs, the body slumped against his still had some form of rigidity - a tenseness - that was common in Dean as he slept, but very wrong for De. While Dean never fully relaxed, even while he slept - needing to be on guard and to watch over his brother - De had no such problem. De was able to fully relax as he slept, content and trusting in the knowledge that his Daddy was watching over him and would be there to solve any problems that may arise - be it a monster or a wet diaper. 

The fact that De was not completely relaxed told Castiel that on some level De believed that he was alone and was going to have to protect himself - just like big Dean did - and that made him unbearably sad.

Despite the tension in his baby, Cas sighed in relief to have De back in his arms. Every moment that his baby had been in that playpen had been absolute torture for Castiel. Although he knew logically that De was fine in the playpen as he was asleep and that it was his best opportunity to take care of his various duties, given De's earlier breakdown all Cas wanted to do was hold De for every second, whether he was aware of the fact that his Daddy was there or not. 

Although he was putting on a brave face for his nephew and brother, Castiel was beating himself up inside. All he had wanted to do was look after his baby. To try to do something - anything - to relieve some of the misery his boy was suffering from. He had thought that getting the medicine would help to accomplish this, but although it had made the boy's temperature go down (Cas laid a hand against a forehead to check this was still the case - still too hot but not as bad as previously), Cas's actions had actually ended up inadvertently harming his boy. 

The last thing Cas had ever wanted to do was to hurt his baby, and that’s what it looked like he had done. He wasn't sure how he was ever going to make this up to De, or Dean for that matter. 

For now though, Castiel just needed to have his boy in his arms, and there was no way he was letting go any time soon. Now that Gabriel had arrived, Cas was freed of some of his responsibilities and so now could give one hundred percent of his attention the his baby rather than have to split it. Castiel was resolved to his promise to make sure De knew he was not alone, and that he was loved. 

Castiel was interrupted from his musings by little Sammy running back to clamber into his usual seat next to Castiel, excitedly saying " Uncle Cas! I helpeded Daddy make the dinner!"

Gracing the excited boy with a smile Cas forced lightness into his tone. "That’s great Sammy. Well done!"

"He's a good cook Cassie" Gabe said as he joined the table, sliding three plates of macaroni and cheese in front of each place setting. "You should probably take him on as a helper when I'm not here. The food would be edible then."

Totally ignoring his brother's barb and nephew's giggles, Castiel shifted De ever so slightly in his arms and reached out to take a forkful of cheesy pasta and vegetables. "This is good Sammy, thank you".

Sammy grinned at his uncle, inadvertently smearing cheese all around his mouth. 

Groaning good naturedly as he reached over to wipe away the damage Gabriel gently chastised "Careful buddy. You might want to try eating it. Not wearing it."

"Kay Daddy!" Sam beamed as he inhaled another forkful, once again getting covered. 

Giving up for the time being, settling on just giving his boy a bath later Gabriel turned his attention towards his subdued brother and the baby in his arms. "I put aside a bowl of pasta for De if you think he'll eat it later."

"Thank you Gabriel, that was very thoughtful" Cas said as he swallowed a mouthful of his own food, before setting down his fork and running a thoughtful hand through his boy's short blonde locks. "I'm not sure he'll be up for much more than bottles for a while though. But who knows? Maybe later…" he trailed off, sharing at De worriedly. 

Interrupting the thoughts of the adults, Sammy worriedly asked "Baby De's not hungry?"

"I think he's too poorly to feel hungry Sammy" Gabriel explained patiently.

"But- but De's always hungry!" Sam cried as he dropped his fork to the table and his lip started to wobble. 

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the items Sammy used were plastic, as he dropped the fork, it made quite the clattering sound when it hit his plate. This made De jump back from his slumped position in shock, blinked blurrily as he quickly looked around, then very quickly dissolved into very quiet tears where he was sat up, pacifier dropping from his mouth. 

De was woken up by a loud sound coming from behind him and he shot up from whatever warm thing he was leaning against. Instantly pain exploded in his head and he let out a small whine as he stilled to avoid the sensation. Though as he stilled he became aware of an another uncomfortable sensation coming from his bottom which was cold and stinging. Confused and prying apart tired eyes, De blinked as he tried to figure out where he was. He heard some crying coming from behind him and looking around he saw that his Sammy was upset and he didn't like that at all. Then, he tried to figure out where he was, and looking down slightly, discovered he was on someone's lap. Still blinking and trying to clear his blurry eyes, De discovered that he was in fact sat on his Daddy's lap. But - but Daddy had gone away! Being totally confused and very uncomfortable, De gave into his instincts and just began to sob for all he was worth. Unconsciously however, he kept himself quiet, still being led by his earlier instincts of not wanting to annoy anyone.   
Sammy, already worried about the information he had just received and realising that it was his actions that had woken up his brother gave into his own tears, crying slightly more loudly as he watched his baby brother start to cry. 

As one, the adults moved. 

Gabriel moved from his place at the table to lift up his crying child and settled him onto his lap as he returned to his own chair. "Hey Sammy, don't cry. It's ok buddy. De's ok, he's just confused because he's only just woken up and poorly. He'll be fine. It's not your fault, don’t cry little man".

Castiel meanwhile just gripped his baby by the shoulders and brought him back down to rest once again on his shoulder, wrapping him in a strong hug and cradling the back of the boy's head where it came to rest once again on his shoulder. 

"De? De it's all ok baby. It's all ok. I'm right here sweetheart" Cas crooned, repeating comforting words to his crying boy, hoping to get through to the distressed baby. 

De allowed himself to be pulled into an embrace, but then realising where he was, started to try to push himself back out of the hold, thinking that he wasn't meant to be in it. If De was bad enough to leave alone, then he wasn't good enough for cuddles. No matter how much he wanted them. 

Castiel just held his baby tighter against the struggles, recognising the confusion and distress, but unwilling to let his baby get away from the comfort he was trying to provide - knowing that his baby desperately needed it. Continuing his litany of reassurance, Castiel began to gently stroke through the fine hair on the back of De's head. "I know baby, I know. Its not nice to wake up with big noises and not knowing where you are. And feeling so yucky too! Oh my poor baby."

De continued to struggle for a few moments, before his tiredness won out and he collapsed against his Daddy's body, forgetting about his desire to keep quiet and disolving into full blown wails. He just didn't understand what was happening. First Daddy was gone and now he wasn't gone? And his head hurt and he could here Sammy crying and he didn't understand and he didn't like it. De did the only thing he could do, and cried. 

As De brought his hand up to his face to press into his aching eyes and felt something soft brush against his skin. Forcing one eye open, he saw blue. Another thing to be confused about. But then De remembered it was Daddy's and soft and nice. Not knowing how he came to have it, and not caring over much at the moment, De just clenched the soft to his face as he continued to cry. 

Castiel had to rapidly adjust as a fist full of t-shirt came up to brush against his face from where he was trying to peak at his baby's scrunched up face, wincing as the cries got much louder suddenly. Manoeuvring his chin around then new item, seeing as it was apparently staying where it was, Castiel kept up with his chatter, moving his hand from cradling the head on his shoulder, to rub up and down the warm back that was shaking with the force of the wails. 

"Alright baby. Alright. Just let it all out. Let it all out. I know its so hard. But Daddy's here, and Daddy is never ever going to leave you ever again. Never again. You just let it all out baby. Daddy's right here."

Feeling eyes upon him, Cas raised his head to find his brother watching him with concerned eyes. No one in the kitchen had seen De cry quite this forcefully before, and it was worrying. But given just how ill the boy was, and the upset he had suffered it was not entirely unsurprising. Upsetting none the less. 

Looking at Sammy, who was huddling, sniffling at the remains of tears in his Daddy's arms, Castiel decided to take his leave for a little while, in order to give each boy time to calm down without continuing to upset the other. 

"I think I'm going to take De to the rocker for a little while. See if I can get him to calm down some," Castiel said loudly, trying to be heard over the continued wails, as he got a tighter grip on the baby and climbed to his feet. 

"Take all the time you need," Gabriel intoned solemnly as he stroked Sammy's long hair as the boy gave a particularly large sniff, "we'll be here. Call if you need anything. Anything little bro."

Giving an emotionally wrung out, but grateful smile, Castiel said "I will. Thank you Gabriel" before heading out to the family room.


	12. Time for a chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel lets De cry it out, then lets his baby know how he feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day! Had a bit of a writing spurt and I'm posting this mainly to make myself feel better. Another very short chapter, but there is a LOT going on in the next one, so I thought I'd separate it out again. To make it up to you, I'm posting it quickly. Sorry guys, but enjoy!

Castiel stopped in front of the plush rocking chair and moved De about so that he was laying cradled in his arms, rather than leaning against his chest and then sat himself down to begin rocking.

At some point during the transition De had moved to cover his whole face with the t-shirt, and was chewing on a part of it that had slipped inside his mouth, which was serving to muffle some of the loud wails 

As Castiel pushed away with his foot to start the chair rocking, he ever so gently pulled the shirt down so that most of his boy's face was uncovered, though he didn't take the part away from where it was gripped by the mouth, knowing that to do so would just further distress the baby. 

Stroking tears away from the tightly screwed up eyes, Castiel was content to let his baby to cry for as long as he needed, despite it not doing much good for the painful head or sore throat that he knew the boy had. Interspersed throughout the harsh sobs were frequent hacking coughs and sneezes and occasionally the baby would shiver, despite the heat that Castiel could feel rolling off of the clammy boy in his lap. Despite this however, Castiel knew that it was better for De to get all of his tears and upset out rather than try to squash it down like he would when feeling big. No matter how long it took, Castiel was determined to make sure that De knew that his Daddy was there for him and would always be there for him. So, rocking and stroking, Castiel kept up his whispered reassurances, waiting patiently for De to get everything out of his system.

"Shh. Shh. It's ok De. You just take as long as you need. Daddy is right here. Daddy's right here."

It took a very long time before De's wails died down into softer cries, and even longer than that before those cries faded away into sniffles and hiccups around the very soggy bit of t-shirt that was being gently suckled. 

All the while Castiel rocked and hushed and crooned, wiping away tears and dabbing at the sore nose that continued to leak. 

As De calmed and some of the tension left the body cradled against his, Castiel cooed quietly "De? Think you can open those beautiful eyes for me baby? Can you look at Daddy?"

Cas watched as De seemed to war within himself for a moment, squirming slightly in his arms. He fought not to tighten his grip on the boy, worried that he would frighten the baby out of any action he might take. 

De for his part was utterly exhausted from all of his crying. He had cried for how bad he was feeling - for the pain in his head. For the soreness of his throat and the ache in his ear. The increasing soreness of his nose and the uncomfortable feeling around his bottom. He had cried each time a raw cough would rattle through his chest. He cried for the feeling all alone. He cried for desperately wanting to be held and wanting his Daddy, even though he knew that he wasn't good enough. He cried for loving being held in warm arms that he knew weren't going to hold him for much longer. 

De cried and cried and cried, but eventually he ran out of tears. He clung to the softness in his hands, unwilling to let that go and hid himself inside of it. He'd take that if he could - even when the arms holding him put him down. Maybe if he had that softness that reminded him of Daddy then he wouldn't be so utterly alone. 

Once De had cried himself out, he became aware of what sounded like his Daddy's voice floating around him, saying lovely things and trying to calm himself down. He became really aware of the smooth rocking motion and the warmth that surrounded him. Not wanting it to end, even though he knew it would, De screwed his eyes up, unwilling to open them up and break the calm spell around them. He didn't want to go back to the cold and aloneness, so he would close his eyes and pretend for as long as he was able. 

However, when he heard the unmistakable sound of his Daddy's soft, yet growly voice pleading for him to open his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to disobey. He couldn't not do something for his Daddy, no matter how much he didn't want to do it. De would never not do something his Daddy asked of him. He never wanted Daddy to be sad with him - even if he already was. All De wanted was for Daddy to be pleased with him. 

So, when Castiel asked again "De? Please baby? Please open those pretty eyes for Daddy?", De found himself very very slowly peeling open one still watery eye, and then the other as he sniffed back some of the yuck that was continuing to stream from his nose. If his suckling on the bit of blanket in his mouth increased, then that wasn't to be helped. It calmed him down. 

Castiel's smile lit up his whole face as he caught sight of those bright green eyes, even though they were full of sadness and tears. Though realistically it had only been an hour or two, it seemed like forever since he had seen his baby's eyes looking up into his own. 

Knowing that it would freak his baby out, Castiel forced down the relieved sob he felt building in his chest at the sight of those eyes, seeking his out and seeming so very fragile. Without even meaning to, Castiel's voice dropped to a whisper as he crooned "Hey there baby. There you are. I missed you so very very much baby boy. Thank you for coming back to me."

De blinked up in confusion at his Daddy. What did he mean? De was right here. De had never gone away - Daddy had gone away. Not De. De would never leave Daddy.  
Unfortunately, De's nose chose that exact moment to tickle, which lead to a sneeze that , sprayed goo everywhere and all over his Daddy's t-shirt and chest. Looking at the mess, De's breath hitched as he was scared he had messed things up all over again. Just when he was in his Daddy's arms too!

De was startled out of his musings however by the rumbley sound of his Daddy chuckling. "Oh dear little man! That was a very big sneeze! Let's just mop you up a little bit" Cas said as he used a nearby cloth to wipe away most of the damage. The little bit of humour that had entered his eyes at De's startled look once he had sneezed vanished immediately once he got another good look at the utter devastation painting its way across his baby's face. 

"Oh De. It's ok. It was just a sneeze. No harm done sweetheart" Castiel comforted as he thumbed away a single tear that had snaked its way all down one of De's cheeks.  
As De looked back up at him again, eyes still misting, Castiel sighed and felt a tear of his own begin its decent on his own face. "I'm so, so sorry De. Daddy is so sorry that he hurt you. I never should have put you down or left you by yourself. Daddy didn't mean to make you so very sad baby."

Watching his baby screw his head up in confusion as he suckled on the little bit of t-shirt still in his grip Castiel continued, "De, I know you might not believe me right now, but Daddy will never ever leave you. I love you more than anything in the whole world De. It would hurt Daddy to be away for his baby for too long. I don’t think that De or Daddy would do very well without the other is either of us went away."

De wasn't so sure about that. De was pretty sure that Daddy would be fine without De, but there was no way De would be ok without Daddy. 

As if he could see the thoughts going through his baby's head, Castiel continued "De, Daddy is so sorry for leaving you this afternoon. I only went to get you some medicine, and I came right back, but I know that you didn't know that and it scared you. I just want you to know how very sorry I am baby, and that I love you so very much baby. So much!"

De watched from his place in his Daddy's arms as another tear slid down his Daddy's face to match the one that had fallen from the other eye. He wiggled as a small splash landed on his hand. Daddy was crying? But Daddy wasn't supposed to cry?

De wasn't definitely sure that Daddy wouldn't get fed up with him and leave him again, but he really didn't want his Daddy to be sad. 

Deciding to try and believe for now, De released his grip on what he was now thinking of as his blanket, and slowly raised his hand to gently pat away the tear on his Daddy's face. Pushing the blanket out of his mouth, almost inaudibly and with a shaking voice De whispered "D-Daddy?"

Releasing a hand of his own to come up press De's gentle hand against his face and moving it to press a kiss upon it, Castiel then, voice breaking slightly said "I love you so much De. Never doubt that. I love you baby."


	13. Different types of change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas changes his shirt, and a clingy De gets a much needed diaper change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter to make up for the two shorter ones. Im pretty happy with how this one turned out.

For quite a while, Daddy and baby rocked quietly together, enjoying being in each other's arms and settling themselves after their horrible day so far. 

After a little bit however, De started to shift restlessly in his Daddy's embrace, face screwing up in discomfort. 

Noticing immediately, Castiel questioned "De? What's up baby? What's the matter? Tell Daddy and I'll try and make it better."

De knew exactly what the matter was, but there was no way he was going to tell Daddy. For Daddy to make things better, Daddy would have to put De down, and there was absolutely no way that De was about to let that happen any time soon. 

Unfortunately, Castiel was a good Daddy, and after a moment's observation of his baby, he snuck a hand down and subtly did a diaper check. "Ah. I see the problem. You're soaked baby boy! Let's go make you more comfortable." With that pronouncement, Castiel shifted in preparation to stand up and move to where he could change De. 

However, at that exact moment, De hauled himself up in Castiel's arms, wrapping his arms securely around the angel's neck and screeching a protest, halting any move that Cas was about to make. 

Stilling immediately, Castiel readjusted his grip to better hold onto De and held the boy against him, rubbing his back in an effort to sooth the baby. 

"Hey, hey De. It's ok. It's ok. We just need to change your diaper. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you. I promised I wouldn't leave you, and I mean it. But we need to change your diaper before it makes you more poorly sweetheart." Castiel said all this comfortingly, but other than continuing to stroke his baby's back, made no other movement, not wanting to upset his boy further. 

De meanwhile clung to his Daddy and wasn't about to move any time soon. His diaper was getting a bit owie now though and it would be good to have it not be wet and cold any more. But how to ensure that Daddy wouldn't go away again? 

Suddenly, De had a thought and pushed back from his Daddy a little (still keeping one arm clamped around his Daddy's neck) to frantically dig around in their laps. Hand grazing something soft that quickly becoming very familiar to him, De snatched up his prize and pushed it into his Daddy's chest with a soft pleading "Daddy?"

Castiel looked down in shock at the old blue t-shirt that was being pushed into his chest. It was the one that he had been wearing earlier and the one that he had had to abandon seeing as De wasn't going to let it go. Taking a quick, confused glance at the item, he could see the wet patch on what he could now identify as a sleeve, and some lovely snot trails. He didn't, however, know what his son wanted. 

"De?", Cas questioned as he moved De back ever so slightly so that he could get a better look at his boy (earning another screech of protest, though he had never intended to remove the boy at all - just settle him back a bit), "What do you want baby?"

Blushing as he tried to push through his plan, De simply pushed the t-shirt (blanket) further into his Daddy's chest and tried again saying "Daddy!" slightly more demandingly.  
Frowning in confusion as he tried to figure out what his baby wanted, Castiel asked again "De? I don't understand sweetheart? Don't you want Daddy's shirt? You haven't let go of it all afternoon. Daddy doesn't mind if you want to keep it baby."

That was obviously the point Daddy!, De thought. De wasn't going to let go of his new blanket any time soon, and so if Daddy had the blanket, then De would have extra reasons to not let go of Daddy. There was no way Daddy was going to be able to put De down if he had hold of both Daddy and the blanket!

Trying hard to get his Daddy to understand, De tried a new tactic, but was having to be brave to do so. He really hoped that it would work. Slowly releasing his other hand from around his Daddy's neck, De brought it down shakily to tug his Daddy's new t-shirt upwards slightly. Nervously, De stuttered "O-off Da-ddy?", then pushed at his new blanket once more. 

Ah. Cas finally figured out what De wanted. He wanted him to put his old blue t-shirt back on again. Inwardly, Cas grimaced slightly, once again taking in the sight of the damp and slightly slimy shirt clutched in his baby's fist, but gave no outward sign of being unwilling. If De was asking for something, then if there was any way in heaven or earth that Cas could give it, then he would do it. If De wanted him to wear that t-shirt, then he would do it. Though he had no idea why he would want him to. Still. It seemed important to De, so Castiel would willingly oblige his baby. 

There was one ever so slight problem however. First things first however. "You want Daddy to wear the t-shirt De?" Cas asked gently, tipping up hi baby's chin so that he could see his baby's worried eyes. At the hesitant nod he received Castiel gave his boy a reassuring smile and said "Ok baby. Daddy can do that," gaining a shy smile in return. 

Now for the hard part. "De? If Daddy is going to put on the t-shirt, Daddy is going to need you to be brave for a little bit ok?"

De immediately tensed, let out a very unhappy whine and grabbed hold of his Daddy tightly again. Forget the blanket! daddy wasn't putting De down!

"No, no no baby. No! I'm not putting you down. I'm not going to leave you. Calm down sweetheart. I'm not going anywhere baby. Not going anywhere."

Waiting until De had calmed down a little bit again, though the grip on his Daddy hadn't loosened, Castiel continued "I'm not going to put you down De. I promise baby. But I am going to have to let you go in order to change t-shirts. I need my hands baby." As De tightened his grip again, Castiel rushed on "You are going to stay right here on my lap De. right here. But I'm going to have to let go of you with my hands to change shirt. Can you be brave for Daddy while he does that?" 

Castiel continued to hold onto De tightly, humming soothing nothings to the boy as he clung to him and thought. 

As De held on to his Daddy, he thought very carefully. Daddy wasn't going to put De down, but he was going to have to let go of De. De wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. De rested his head down on his Daddy's shoulder as he thought. It was all very scary and very confusing and he still didn't feel very well. 

One one hand, De would still be sat on Daddy - so Daddy couldn't go away. And Daddy would be putting on De's blanket, so his plan would be working. 

On the other hand - De would have to be on Daddy's lap without Daddy holding him. That meant it would be easy for Daddy to be able to put him down if he wanted to. De really didn't like the sound of that. 

De whimpered softly, but was soothed by his Daddy humming a tune at him. Sneaking a thumb into his mouth, and beginning to suckle slowly, De decided that he was going to have to be brave. If he could be brave and a big boy, then Daddy would be happy - and as soon as Daddy was wearing the special blanket, De would be able to make sure that Daddy would never put him down again. It would be worth it. 

Sitting himself up again, thumb still in his mouth, De gathered his blanket in his free hand and pushed it at his Daddy again, decision made. 

Castiel looked De as he helped his baby to sit up comfortably and securely on his lap. He noted the look of scared decisiveness that danced across his baby's features - the worry shining brightly in the bright green eyes. The flush was also starting to creep back into his boy's cheeks more promenantly, meaning that the boy was probably due for some more medicine very soon. 

Proud of his brave baby, Castiel asked gently "Are you sure about this baby? Are you ready?"

As De nodded - lips visibly wobbling behind the thumb that was being frantically suckled - Castiel slowley withdrew his hands from where they had been gripping his boy's waist.  
Wasting no time, Castiel quickly gripped the bottom of his t-shirt and began to pull it up and over his head. The whole time, Castiel kept up a litany of reassurances, hoping to comfort his boy. "You're being so brave De. So brave! Remember, Daddy's right here. I'm not going anywhere. Nearly done baby. You're being so good De. Such a good boy."

De shook from where he was perched on his Daddy's knee, watching as the angel hurriedly discarded the t-shirt in order to snatch up the blue one from earlier, tugging it quickly over his head and threading his arms through each arm hole. 

The very second Castiel felt the t-shirt settle on his body, he snatched up his baby into his arms again, hugging him close to his body and trying to sooth the shivers he felt coursing through the boy's system. 

"All done baby. All done. You did so well De! Daddy's so proud of you baby, SO proud! I know you were very scared, but you did it! Daddy's got you De. It's all over sweetheart. All done."

De relaxed into his Daddy as he was pulled into the warm arms once again. Immediately, De grabbed hold of his blanket, twisting his fingers into the soft fabric - careful to mind out for a little patch of snot that seemed to have got there somehow. 

Daddy didn't put him down, just like he said! That was very very good! But now that Daddy was wearing the soft blanket shirt again, then De could make sure that he never let Daddy go again. He'd never let go of Daddy, or of the blanket.

Castiel sighed in relief as he felt tension bleed out of himself and from the boy in his lap. Pushing with his foot so that they rocked for a few more minutes, Cas let De soak in the comfort he obviously needed. That had gone a lot better than he had hoped, even if he didn't know why he had to wear the dirty shirt. Still - if it made De happy, then he wasn't going to complain. 

Still, they couldn't rock for too long, Cas still needed to get his baby out of the wet diaper soon. He'd probably been in it for too long as it was. But given how rough of a day De had been having so far, Cas was unwilling to push for too much too fast. 

Castiel had a plan for how to get the diaper change done with as little fuss as possible however, so probably better to get things over with. 

Pushing De so that he was sat up a little bit once again, though this time with Cas's hands still secured firmly on his waist. "Hey there baby boy. How you doing?" Cas asked gently, studying his baby's face. 

De just smiled shyly at his Daddy around the thumb secured firmly in his mouth as he tugged on Cas's shirt with the other hand. 

"That good baby?" Cas asked as he gently bounced the boy in his lap, but didn't get any more of a response than before. 

"Now. Do you think you can continue being Daddy's brave boy while we get you clean and dry?" Castiel asked, though as soon as the smile vanished he quickly continued "Remember Daddy is not ever going to leave you. I have a plan. I promise I will not put you down baby. I promise."

De looked pretty nervous, but Daddy hadn't put him down before, so maybe, just maybe he wouldn't do it now. Though De couldn't see how as he was sure Daddy would need his hands to clean him up. His diaper was starting to get pretty itchy and yucky now though, so he guessed he'd just have to trust Daddy. See if De lets go of Daddy though!  
De nodded uncertainly as he trusted his Daddy. 

Seeing De's reluctant agreement, Castiel moved slowly to grip De under the armpits and to lift him as he stood and settled him on his hip. Not that Cas minded at all - but it looked like he was going to have one very clingy baby for a while - seeing as De never lost his grip on his shirt and readjusted himself so that both legs and his remaining arm were curled around his Daddy and he made to hide his head in the curve of Castiel's neck. 

Speaking softly to comfort his shy baby, Castiel said "Ok De. We'll get you all cleaned up in no time. I promise I will not let you go. Let's go and find Uncle Gabe and see if he can help us".

De didn't lift his head from where he was hiding, but he was intrigued as to what they would need Uncle Gabe for any way. Besides, when had Uncle Gabe gotten here? He'd totally missed that and it would be good to see his uncle - he was so awesome!

The pair made their way through the house in search of the missing father and son but came up empty until they made their way outside. There, they found Sammy and Gabe sat on the decking pushing around some toy cars on a mat designed to look like a road. They both looked up as they sensed the movement coming towards them. Seeing who it was, Sammy jumped to his feet and was about to dash towards his uncle and brother, but before he could get too far, he was stopped by his Daddy who had hooked a hand into his back pocket.

Undeterred, Sammy continued, calling out "Uncle Cas! Uncle Cas! Is De all better now?!"

De attempted to bury himself further into his Daddy - worried that he might try to put him down in order to play with Sammy now that he was being little too. 

Castiel however just smiled kindly at his nephew, answering "Hey there Sammy. Looks like you are having a good time with your Daddy. No, I'm sorry, De isn't feeling better yet I'm afraid."

Sammy's smile faltered as he received the news, and leant back into his daddy who by now was also on his feet. "Poor De, " Sammy said, "I wish he was better now! I don't like it when he's poorly."

"No one does buddy" Gabriel chimed in, "but I'm sure that Uncle Cas is doing everything he can to make De feel better. And we'll help him out right? Wanna help look after the baby?"

That cheered Sammy up - feeling like a big boy to be trusted to help looking after his baby brother. "Yeah Daddy! I'll help take care of De!"

Castiel smiled at the happy boy in front of him. He was always such a happy boy - so eager to please. "Well if you don't mind Sammy, I could use your help right now" Castiel said, watching as the boy's face lit up. 

"Yeah! Yeah! I'll help!" Sammy shouted excitedly as he bounced up and down.

Still hidden, De flinched at the loud noise and whined a little, tightening his grip on his Daddy again. 

As Castiel shushed the baby, Gabriel cautioned gently "Try to be just a little quieter alright bud? I think De's head hurts and the loud hurts him."

Immediately stopping his bouncing and becoming very serious Sammy whispered "Ok Daddy! I'll be super duper quiet and De's head won't hurt no more."

The adults chuckled - Sammy never did things half way - it was all or nothing with that boy. 

"Thank you buddy" Gabriel replied, trying to keep the smile from his face so as not to upset the serious boy. 

"Thank you Sammy. Now, I was wondering if you might let me borrow your Daddy for a little bit. But while he is helping me, you have a super important job. Can you do something like that for me?"

Still whispering Sammy replied seriously "Yep. I can do super important jobs Uncle Cas. Anything for my baby De."

"Great," said Cas as he absently patted the bottom of the boy who was starting to wiggle in his arms. Seeing as De was hidden, he missed the slight wince this produced. "Could you go and find De's new car? The one you bought for him earlier? I think that might make him feel better. And you haven't shown it to your Daddy yet have you?"

Gasping as he realised his uncle was right, Sammy twirled to face his Daddy and began bouncing again in his urgency. Still somehow remembering to whisper he started talking a mile a minute. "Daddy! Daddy! I gotted De a new Car and he really likes it! I need to go get it right now! De might start crying again if he doesn't have it, coz baby's cry if they want things Daddy! I don't want my De to start crying!"

Proud of his caring boy, Gabriel echoed the urgency in his boy's tone, replying "Well we don't want that now do we! Quick, go get it! I want to see this new toy too!"

Pushing Sammy in the direction of the door to get him moving, Gabriel followed at a more sedate pace, running a hand over the soft hair of the still hiding De and querying "You said you need my help with something?"

The angels began to walk inside together as Castiel filled Gabe in on what had happened while they had been inside and why he would need Gabe's help. 

"So, you see I can't put De down, but he needs a diaper change. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing the changing while I held De in my lap. I think that that way we might avoid more tears."

"No problem Cassie. I'm glad to help. That sound ok to you little man?" Gabe asked of his nephew, not really expecting a response, but asking none the less. 

De didn't look up, but did nod against his Daddy's neck, thumb following his movements. He didn't care who changed him as long as he got changed and he never got put down by his Daddy again. De flexed his fingers where they were in his blanket as he thought. Also did Daddy say something about his car? That would be nice. But as long as he stayed right where he was he was fine. 

"Alright then kiddo, let's get this sorted" Gabriel said as he clapped his hand and began to root around in the diaper bag that Castiel had pointed out. 

Castiel meanwhile had begun talking to De again, bouncing the boy in his arms briefly before they started. "Now De, you have been such a brave boy for me, but I'm going to need you to be brave for just a tiny bit more sweetheart. I promise I will not let you go ok baby. Remember that I promise I will not let you go."

Hearing this, De began to suck harder on his thumb and his fiddling fingers stilled once again as the clenched his blanket. He didn't like the sound of this. 

Meanwhile, Gabriel had laid out the supplies next to the sofa and had spread out the changing mat on top of it.

Castiel continued "What we're going to do, is lay you down on the changing mat baby. That means that you are going to have to get out of Daddy's arms", De's breath hitched suddenly, but Castiel hurried on, "but remember I am not ever going to let you go. The whole time I am going to be holding on to you. As I lay you down, I am going to be moving around so that I can put your head on my lap and I can keep cuddling you. Remember I am never ever going to let you go - not even for a second."

De really didn't like the sound of this, but Daddy hadn't put him down before when he said he wouldn't - so maybe he wouldn't now. He really really wanted out of this diaper now though so he guessed he had no choice. De squirmed in his Daddy's grip, but he didn't make any more protest. 

Thinking that now was the best chance to do this, Castiel moved very slowly to start peeling De away from his body and angling him so that the boy was laying down. True to his word, Castiel never lost contact with his boy, and so very quickly De was laying on the mat, his head and shoulders cradled safely in his lap where he was sat. De had also not lost his contact with his Daddy. One hand constantly stayed in his blanket and he stared intensly at his Daddy with worried eyes as he sucked hard upon his thumb. 

As soon as they were settled, Castiel praised his baby. "You're so good baby! So good! Well done baby, you did it. You're so brave!".

Giving them a moment, Gabriel watched happily from the side until Castiel looked up and nodded at him to proceed. Smiling at the two on the sofa, Gabriel began his part of the task. 

First things first, Gabe called the baby's attention his way. "De? Baby? Can we get rid of that yucky thumb from your mouth? I have a nice clean paci for you baby."

De locked eyes with his uncle, but did not resist as his thumb was pulled from his mouth. Not wanting to increase his distress however, Gabriel quickly slipped in the pacifier, which was immediately accepted and nursed on. 

De quickly saw the upside to this switch however as he now had another hand free, which he groped around with until it was claimed by his Daddy's hand. Ha! Now Daddy definitely wouldn't be getting away!

By now Gabriel had moved on to pulling De's trousers off, and as soon as they had been placed on the floor. As Castiel continued to croon to his baby, Gabriel began to undo the tabs and peel away the sodden diaper from the baby. As soon as he did though, he winced. 

Ouch! He didn't know how De wasn't sobbing right now. The poor boy's whole genital area was turning red and had the proper start of diaper rash. That really couldn't be comfortable!

"Oh De! Why didn't you say something baby?" Gabriel gasped as he lifted the baby's bottom to pull out the wet diaper from underneath of him. 

Castiel looked down and winced exclaiming "De! Why didn't you tell Daddy! Oh baby I'm so sorry!"

De screwed his eyes shut and turned his head to hide in his Daddy as much as possible. He just wanted it to go away now. He was feeling yucky and he just wanted to be back in Daddy's arms. It wasn't that bad really. 

Castiel felt awful. How had he not noticed that his baby was wet earlier? Then again, he had been quite lost within his own thoughts on trying to sort his baby out emotionally. He was kicking himself to be more vigilant. Especially right now when De was not as responsive and withdrawn. There was no excuse for him dropping the ball like this. 

As Gabriel began to ever so carefully clean up the baby, Castiel tried to comfort his boy once again. "It's ok De. It's ok. Daddy and Uncle Gabe will make it all better. then we'll have cuddles for as long as you want. Its all ok baby. I'm so sorry baby. That must be so painful."

Luckily, diaper rash was something that the angels could actually do something about - and so during his clean up, Gabriel extended some of his grace to clean up the rash.  
De shivered at the feel of the unfamiliar grace on his private area and tried not to squirm at the weird feeling. Gabriel, wanting to help as much as he could got on with the change as quickly as possible. As he spread the new diaper under the baby, he glanced up at his brother and read the worry and self recrimination rolling off of the younger angel. He would need to do something about that later also. 

Gabriel made sure to apply some diaper rash cream to be on the safe side, then powdered the baby before taping him into the new diaper securely. Wiping his hands clean on a wipe, Gabriel gave his nephew's leg a small pat, saying "All done baby boy. All done. You've been so good for your Daddy and me. So good baby boy!"

Castiel gratefully glanced at his brother, trying to convey just how thankful he was for the aid. He could not have done this without Gabriel, and he wanted him to make sure that he knew that. Verbally however, Castiel joined in with the praise of his baby as he lifted the boy to settle more comfortably in his arms once again, not bothering with the trousers for the time being. 

For a moment, everything was still in the living room as the trio each lost themselves in their own thoughts. 

The stillness was shattered a second later as Sammy came crashing through the doorway, a large smile on his face and his prize clutched in his hands.


	14. Racing cars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammy brings back De's Impala and after a little more medicine, the small family settle down for some playtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been a while since my last update. I had a pretty bad fibromyalgia flare up and was too tired to write. I kinda lacked inspiration as well to be honest. Not really sure where I want to go from here.   
> I think there might only be one - possibly two chapters of this story left. If you have anything you want to see happen, please let me know.   
> Also - any prompts or story ideas you have, please send them my way. I'd love new story ideas to put into this verse. I have a few ideas, but prompts are awesome!

"Daddy daddy daddy! Look what I gotted for De! Big me found it and De really liked it but we had to make it all clean again and big me did it with De Daddy look!" Sammy squealed as he ran straight up to where Gabriel was perched on the sofa, arm resting on De's bare leg, stroking soothingly. 

Taking the car into his hands, Gabriel turned it over, looking at it appraisingly. "Oh wow Sammy! Its and Impala just like De's baby. I bet he loves it. You are such a nice big brother getting that for your brother. 

Gabe was distracted from chattering to his boy by the excited kicking that had started up under his hands accompanied by a series of excited grunts. Looking down he saw that De had his gaze locked on to his toy, and having freed a hand from being locked on his Daddy was reaching forward, frantically making grabby hands towards his prize.   
Laughing loudly at the animated baby, Gabriel couldn't resist teasing his nephew - enjoying the fact that he was being drawn out of the mood he had been in previously. 

"Oh! What's up De? Whatchu want baby? You want this?"

The pace of the excited wiggling increased as De crowed a slightly garbled "Uh! Uh! Ar!" from behind his pacifier. Castiel was laughing gently, even as he supported his squirming son. 

"Ar? You want an ar? I don’t think I've got an ar. What do you think Sammy? WHat could De want?"

A giggling Sammy stepped forward again and plucked the Impala toy out of his Daddy's hands. "He wants the car Daddy! You're so silly! You give my baby De the 'Pala now".   
With that he reached forward and handed the toy to his little brother who - not nastily, just excitedly - snatched his toy and, spitting out his pacifier stuffed the front of the toy into his mouth to begin to chew on it. He started to hum happily as he relaxed back onto his Daddy and cheered "Car!"

"Oh! He wanted the car huh? Why didn't he say so then?!" Gabe grinned down at the happy baby who was gnawing on the toy, attention focused on his activity. 

Sam stood back and put his hands on his hips "Silly Daddy! You gotta get better at understandin' De when he's got his paci. He did say car", Sammy told his Daddy seriously.

Smiling proudly at his boy and drawing him into his arms for a gentle hug responded "Ah ok Sammy. I might need your help though. Will you help Daddy?"

Proud to have been such a help, Sammy said "'Course Daddy! I'm a good help with De."

Having watched the interaction with a fond smile on his face, Castiel turned his attention back on his baby. "Happy to have your car De? Can you say 'Ta' to Sammy baby?"

Glancing up at his brother De said around his car "'Ta 'Ammy", then resumed chewing. 

Although he would rather De have a pacifier in his mouth, Cas decided to let De have his toy for now seeing as it was bringing him such joy. Besides, its not like some of his other toys didn’t get the same treatment every now and then. 

Reaching under De's armpits, Cas pulled the boy to being sat more upright and cuddled on his lap rather than sprawled across the sofa. He decided to let the boy be bare legged for the time being rather than put his trousers back on. He had to admit, it was cute to watch De toddle around with just a t-shirt and diaper on every now again, though Dean wouldn't allow it very often. 

As the sofa was clear, Gabriel folded up and put away the changing mat, before pulling his own son into a hug on the sofa. The small family sat in quiet contentment for a while.

Sammy chatted to his Daddy about anything and nothing at the same time, while Castiel played silly games with De - pulling at the car or gently tickling the boy's arms. 

After a while however, the quiet was interrupted by the increase of De's sneezes and rough sounding coughs. 

Castiel rubbed at his baby's back to ease the worst of the shudders, but decided that intervention was needed when De turned around to face him after a particularly violent sneeze and unfortunately smeared snot down the front of his shirt as he attempted to nuzzle into it slightly. "Ok little man," Cas said as he stood settling De on his hip and just managing to avoid being sprayed in the face by another sneeze, "I think it's time for some more medicine. I can feel your temperature going up again."

Knowing that taking the medicine might cause his nephew to fuss, and wanting to help in any way he could, Gabriel whispered something into his son's ear before he got up to follow the pair into the kitchen offering, "You know, I think we need to test that new car out. Do you think that after medicine you and De might fancy building a race track with me and Sammy Cas?"

Catching on to his brother's idea Cas chimed in "I think that's a wonderful idea! Though I'm not so sure how well the Impala is going to do - it seems pretty water logged at the moment. It might afffect its performance."

De's head shot up from where it had been resting on his Daddy's shoulder as he was carried and he pulled his new toy out of his mouth to look at it closely. It might not win? How could they say that! Of course Car would win! He turned in his Daddy's grip - totally ignoring whatever he was pulling out of the fridge to wave his car indignantly at his uncle. "Car!"

"Oh you think you can beat me and Sammy do you De? Well I'm not sure about that. Maybe me and Sammy should just play by ourselves - your car seems far too wet!"

"Uh! No!" De protested, and he turned to his Daddy's chest and began to wipe his new car against it - drying it off slightly and getting yet more grossness on to his new blanket.   
Cas grimaced as he felt the dampness seep through to his chest, but was ultimately glad that De was sufficiently distracted. He had pulled out several of the items that he would need and thought it best to get things over with while De was still excited. 

"Well we definitely need to prove them wrong now, don't we De!" Cas said, bouncing the boy on his hip slightly, "Let's have some medicine quickly and then we can get down to it!"  
De needed to show his uncle that his baby would win out of all of the cars! His baby was the best! Grunting his acceptance, De opened his mouth as Cas pushed the syringe into his mouth and pushed the plunger. Automatically suckling on the new item in his mouth, De grimaced at the new yucky taste and attempted to spit it out, forgetting his earlier acceptance. Daddy was holding his mouth shut however! Not fair!

"Just swallow quickly baby. I know its yucky, but Daddy has something nice to take the taste away right here for you, but you need to swallow the medicine for me first."

Wiggling his head against the grip, De whined and let out a few cries at the horrid taste assaulting his senses but did eventually swallow the vile concoction down. 

As soon as he had, De felt the familiar shape of a bottle's nipple being pushed against his mouth and he eagerly accepted, desperate to get the taste away. Giving a frantic few suckles, De then went boneless, relaxing into his Daddy's embrace once more - one hand clutching his Daddy through his shirt sleeve and one hand clutching tightly at his car.   
Holding the bottle up with one hand and still supporting De on his hip with the other Cas congratulated his baby on getting through the nasty task. "That's it. Get all the yucky taste away with some yummy milk. You did so well baby! Hopefully you'll start to feel a bit better soon. Now, let's go and show your uncle and brother who has the best car ever eh?"

Nodding to the third item he had gotten out of the fridge, indicating that Gabe should bring it with him, Castiel then headed back into the family room, feeding his baby the whole while. 

Spotting where Sammy had set up a rather long race track and had gathered some cars, Castiel went over to his nephew and took the bottle out of his boy's mouth in order to safely lower them both down to the floor. He sat himself down cross legged by what he assumed to be the start of the race track and then settled De down into the bucket he had made with his legs. 

Unimpressed with his Daddy taking away the cool bottle he had been enjoying, De whined and dropped his car down onto the floor to grab at the bottle from his Daddy's hand. If Daddy wasn't going to give De the milk, then De was getting it himself. He was sorry that he had to let go of his car, but the other option was letting go of his Daddy and the blanket - and there was no way that was going to happen! Finding himself placed in his Daddy's lap, De rested his head against the warm blue material covering his Daddy's chest and leant back to enjoy his bottle and watch what was going on around him. 

Chuckling at his baby's actions, Castiel just relaxed and wrapped one hand around De's waist to keep him more comfortable on his lap, and reached down to pick up the fallen car with the other. "So. How are me and De going to prove to you that De's car is the best?" Castiel challenged his nephew as soon as Gabriel had joined them on the carpet.   
"We need to have a race. Me and De will line up our cars and push and whatever one goes the furthest wins!" Sammy explained eagerly from where he was busy sorting through some of his toy cars. Sammy's were more like the matchbox or hot wheels cars - designed for bigger boys, but it would still be a fun race against De's bigger plastic car. 

Humming and agreement with his nephew, but feeling De attempting to bury himself deeper into his chest as he nuzzled at the t-shirt he was wearing Cas said, "I think that’s a great idea Sammy - but how about I push the car for De. I think he's a little bit busy drinking at the moment."

Looking up to see where De was slowly nursing at his bottle while watching the proceedings from half lidded eyes, Sammy agreed. "Ok Uncle Cas, I guess you can go for De. Can De play with me later though?"

"Of course Sammy! He's just a little busy right now, but I'm sure he'll play later. I know he definitely wants to watch though. Right sweetheart?" Gabriel answered for his brother - scooping his own boy into a one handed hug as he selected his own car to race with. 

Adequately distracted by his Daddy, Sammy began to set up the race. Cas, Gabe and Sammy placed their cars on the line Sammy had set up and Sammy started to explain, "Ok, so after I say ready, steady, go, you need to push your car as fast as you can and the one that goes the longest is the bestest. Ready?"

Although they wouldn't usually do it - Gabriel and Cas had silently agreed that for this time only, they would use some of their grace to ensure that the Impala toy won. They would not usually interfere with something so trivial - wanting the boys to play fairly - but given the hard and emotional time that De was having - they thought that it wouldn't hurt to manipulate the results in his favour just this once. 

"Ok," said Sammy as he readied his car, "Ready! Steady! Go!"

With that pronouncement the two angels and one very excited little boy pushed hard at their chosen car and sent them flying along the racetrack. The large plastic toddler car was of course no match for the small and smartly built metal hot wheels cars, and so a small nudge of grace helped push the Impala over the finish line ever so slightly in the lead. 

Bouncing in his Daddy's lap excitedly while watching the race, De laughed happily around his bottle when his car won. The hand clutching his Daddy's t-shirt shook frantically as De was making sure that his Daddy was paying attention and knew his car had won! Pulling his bottle out for just a moment De cheered happily "Car! Daddy! Car!"

"I know! I see baby! Your car won! Yay!" Cas congratulated, pleased that De was enjoying himself and laughing as his son seemed to stuff his bottle back in his mouth to have a triumphant drink this time. 

Gabriel observed all of this happily and also congratulated De after he had collected all of the cars from the other end of the race track. He was also watching his own son closely however, making sure that Sam wouldn't take the loss badly. Gabriel needn't have worried however as Sammy immediately started cheering loudly - excited for his brother and Gabriel was proud of his sweet boy. 

Cas was also very proud of his nephew. Not wanting to push things too far however, he subtly pulled his baby into a more reclining position in his lap - cradling the boy's head gently and lifting a hand up to help ease the bottle into a more comfortable suckling position. "Hey, how about you two race again to see who comes second," he suggested to his brother and Sammy, "Me and De will watch you guys". Cas had a cunning plan. Although he was pleased that De was enjoying himself, he didn't overly want the baby to over excite himself seeing as he was recovering and still ill. 

Although De hadn't noticed his Daddy's manipulations he wasn't displeased with how things had turned out. He was still pretty tired and his head was hurting and feeling a little fuzzy. Besides he had already proved that his car was the best and he wanted to enjoy his milk now. He settled back and angled himself to be able to watch Uncle Gabe and Sammy race. As Daddy was holding his bottle, he let his hand drop down into his lap. 

Gabriel and Sam finished the race to decide the second best car - and when that was decided, carried on racing other cars and playing happily together Sammy would chat and kept De and his Uncle Cas up to date with what was going on. 

Eventually, De finished the bottle, and after being burped, settled back to nuzzle comfortably against his Daddy's chest again. Spying his car, De reached out his free hand to snatch it up. Just as he was about to stuff it back into his mouth again - chewing on it really helped to alleviate some of the pain he was feeling in his jaw (coming from the earache that still hadn't receded) - Cas reached out to pull it away from entering his mouth saying "Here De, Daddy has something special for you to chew on. You haven't had one of these before, but I think you'll really like it."

De watched carefully as his Daddy reached over to snag something he couldn't see off of the table nearby. As they came into his field of vision, De could see that his Daddy held up a set of large colourful plastic keys that seemed to be filled with what looked like a squishy gel. Tilting his head in confusion, De waited for his Daddy's explanation - he was pretty sure he had some keys after all. 

"Here De, try chewing on these for a bit. I think you might be surprised!" Castiel said as he guided a bright blue key to his son's lips. 

Fully trusting his Daddy, and curious as to what was going on, De opened his mouth and allowed the key to be slipped in and onto his tongue, raising a hand to hold onto the new keys. His eyes widened in shock - that was cold! De gave a tentative suck at the smooth plastic, enjoying the sensation, then rolled the object about in his mouth before giving a small chew. The key squished pleasantly over his teeth and on to his gums, spreading out the cool feeling. As he did it again, he found it really did ease the ache that was all over his jaw. He started gently chewing and sucking in earnest - completely focused on the new sensations flooding through him. He was completely unaware that he had begun to hum happily to himself and was kicking out his feet in delight, wiggling in pleasure. 

The other occupants in the room were not so oblivious however and smiled fondly as they watched the baby enjoy his new teething keys. Careful not to disturb his boy too much Cas quietly asked "That nice baby?" and his grin spread as De's eyes met him, contentment shining from them. 

"I think you made a good call there Cassy!" Gabriel stated from where he had resumed pushing a car around the track - keeping pace with his own son who had begun to add more parts to his track. 

"I thought it might help - both with his temperature and his head, although it might do something for his poor throat also."

"I'm sure it will. Though the best thing for him is probably that," Gabriel chuckled as he nodded his head towards his nephew. 

Glancing down Cas huffed a laugh as he discovered that his boy had completely conked out. "You're right there. Sleep will be the best thing for him. I think the medicine has taken effect. I seem to remember Sammy saying once that cold medicine always has this effect on Dean."

In his sleep De was still suckling softly on his cool keys that he was loosely holding to his mouth with one lax hand. With the other - that was seemingly permanently locked into his shirt - he had pulled the material of the blue shirt forward and had slipped some of that into his mouth to suckle alongside his keys.

Castiel smiled fondly. His shirt was going to be disgusting. He wasn't going to do anything about it though - loathe to disturb his boy's slumber. Instead he just shuffled himself into a slightly more comfortable position - leaning back against the sofa and watched his boy snuffle away in his sleep.


	15. Bath-time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is an attempt to have dinner, then it is De's bathtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Inspiration finally struck and I have spent all day writing this chapter and the final one. I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out. I've been sat in sunny Devon looking out over the ocean and enjoyed writing to my hearts content. It's been nice having time away from work to dedicate to writing for a change.   
> Anyway, this is the second to last chapter of this fic. Please let me know what you think, and send any prompts or ideas for new fics in this verse my way. I'd love some new ideas!

Later in the evening at supper time, Castiel found himself once again sat at the dinner table with an lapful of clingy tired baby who was stubbornly refusing any of the food that had been prepared for him. While the rest of the family ate the meal of roasted meat and vegetables that Gabriel had prepared, Dean was offered the warmed up portion of macaroni cheese that had been made at lunch time. Not that De was eating anything being offered to him at all. 

Cas had wisely skipped the usual battle to get Dean to sit in his highchair, knowing that today there was no chance he was going to win. He would not risk traumatising his baby again so soon after the events earlier in the day. So, Cas had settled De on his lap, and between bites of his own meal, tried to coax spoonfuls of pasta into his baby's mouth. 

"Come on De. Its yummy! You like mac'n'cheese. Just try a small bite."

Each time the spoon was brought near to his mouth however, De would turn to hide his face into the material of his shirt in his shoulder whining out a protest. The shoulder that was now, much like other areas of his shirt, getting covered in its own trail of mucus. Cas was getting thoroughly more disgusted by the state of his clothing, but thought that he would fight that battle later. 

Sighing, frustrated, and returning to his meal for the moment, Castiel was glad that someone at least was getting amusement out of his predicament. Hearing small giggles coming from his left, Castiel glanced at his nephew who was watching the apparent dinner show with a gleaming sparkle in his eyes. Flicking his gaze to his own brother for a moment, Castiel noted the amused smile gracing the older angel's face. 

"Well I'm glad that De and I can keep you two happy at least," Castiel groused, fighting against the smile pulling at his own lips - quickly taking a bite of his own meal to hide his own feelings. 

"You're funny Uncle Cas!" Sammy giggled, "You keep makin' silly faces at De when you want him to eat!"

Taken aback, Castiel disagreed. "I don't think so Sammy!"

"You kind of do Cassy", Gabriel agreed from where he reached over to swipe some ketchup away from a suddenly squirming Sammy's cheek. 

Admiting defeat, but pretending to keep up an affected air of grumpiness (mostly for Sammy's sake as the boy knew he was being played with), Castiel humphed "Yes. Well. You try getting this monster to eat."

Once again letting out a series of giggles Sammy said "Is not a monster Uncle Cas! Is just baby De!"

"Could have fooled me." Cas grumped, taking time to look thoughtfully at the baby who was now peering out from his hiding place - snot running continuously down from his nose at this point. "De likes to eat lots of dinner. And De isn't a slime monster either" Cas continued as he reached with a nearby cloth to wipe the baby's nose - causing frantic wiggles, whined protests and a further burial of head in shoulder - before patting reassuringly at the boy's back. 

"I don't know why you're bothering Cassy," Gabriel interjected, "You said yourself earlier that he would be fine with bottles for a while. Why fight?"

Sighing again, as he once again abandoned the spoon he had brought up to firmly closed lips, Castiel agreed. "I know. I would just like to see him eat something more substantial is all. This flu seems to be taking a lot out of him."

"He'll be fine Cas" Gabriel said as he rose to collect the empty plates now that people have finished eating. "If he doesn't want to eat then don't make him. Just keep him hydrated and make sure he takes his formula if nothing else".

"I suppose."

"Not I suppose. What you meant to say was 'Yes most awesome big brother Gabriel. Of course you are right and I should definitely listen to you'."

This time, the giggles that erupted from Sammy had no attempt at being held back. "Yeah! You need to listen to my Daddy or you hafta go in the naughty corner!"

"That's right Sammy!" Gabriel beamed at his son, enjoying the light teasing atmosphere of the room. 

"Goodness me! What are we going to do with them De huh?" Cas exclaimed as he tried to peer into the boy's slightly hidden face. Then, he stood up and with an exaggeratedly put upon air said, "Well we don't need this do we De? Let's go!" And with that he bounced the baby on his hip and strode from the room, content to leave the twin sounds of happy laughter behind him. 

As he climbed the stairs, Castiel crooned to the boy in his arms as he ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "Its alright De. I know you feel yucky. I'm sorry you feel so horrible baby, I wish I could make it better for you. We'll see if this helps huh?"

De raised his head from where it was still buried in his Daddy's shoulder to see where about they were and to find out what his Daddy was talking about. His head felt all muggy and swimmy and it really was better when he could just rest it on his Daddy. It helped that he could get rid of the yuckiness coming from his nose in that position as he could just use his blanket and not wait to be attacked by Daddy's horrible cloth of doom. 

Looking about, De instantly tensed in his Daddy's arms and started to wrap himself harder around his Daddy - squishing them close. He clutched both his hands tight into his blanket in an effort to be stuck tighter to his Daddy. They were in the bathroom! Daddy wanted to let him go and make him have a bath and De didn't want that! He was quite happy where he was thank you very much!

"Hey hey hey! It's ok baby. It's ok sweetheart. Daddy's not leaving you. Daddy's not going anywhere I promise. I promise De" Cas soothed as he began to weave around the room, immediately picking up on his baby's distress. 

Comforted by his Daddy's words and motions, De relaxed fractionally, but did not loosen his grip at all. 

Settling himself onto the closed toilet seat and cuddling his boy close Castiel started to talk, keeping a soothing and reassuring quality to his voice. "It's alright De, I promise you that I am not going anywhere. I will not leave you even for a second. I think a bath might make you feel a bit better that’s all. It might make your head feel a bit better. But I will not leave you. If you really really don't want to then we don't have to have a bath today, but I think it would do you good baby."

De listened carefully to his Daddy as he leant his head against the angel's warm chest. Releasing one hand to suck contemplatively on his thumb, De listened and he heard his Daddy's rumbly voice and the steady rhythm of the heartbeat, thumping away beneath him. It seemed that Daddy was content to wait for De's answer as they sat and cuddled. 

Eventually, after some careful thought, De decided to trust his Daddy and raised his head to look up at his Daddy. He slipped his thumb out of his mouth and whispered a stuttering "O-ok bath Da-ddy". 

Beaming at his brave boy, Castiel placed a proud kiss onto the boy's temple. "You're such a good boy De. Such a brave boy. I promise I won't leave you and it will be a nice relaxing bath-time."

They cuddled for a few more moments - Castiel taking things deliberately slowly so as to keep things as relaxed as possible - before Cas stood and, with the baby in his arms, leant over to stopper the bath tub and begin to run the water into it. Reaching down to retrieve a bottle from the side of the tub, Cas held it up to show it to Dean. "Now this De, is what is going to make the bath really nice. It's lavender oil and is perfect for making babies all relaxed before sleepy time. It should also smell lovely and clear some of the fuzziness from your head."

De looked closely at the purple bottle, then watched as his Daddy awkwardly began to open the cap - it was difficult as he had to work around De in his arms to be able to use both hands. Eventually however Cas managed to get the bottle open and he poured a generous amount into the swirling water. Instantly a wonderful calming smell of lavender wafted through the room. The father and son pair watched the swirling water for a few seconds before Castiel turned away to face the rest of the room. 

"Now," Cas said, once again rubbing a soothing hand down his baby's back, "I am going to place you onto the floor to get you undressed, but remember, I am not going anywhere. Not even for a second Ok?"  
Dean tensed in his Daddy's arms once again, really not wanting to leave his Daddy. He sniffled softly, battling against the tired tears that wanted to come. Not sure just how to make things better for his baby, Castiel took a further moment to just rock the boy gently in his arms, letting De rub his head into his shoulder again. 

Inspiration struck. 

"Hey I know! De, how about you hold onto Daddy's t-shirt for him. That way I know you'll have it and I can get it later. You'll have something of mine to hold onto the whole time. Would that be ok?"

Given that that is preciely what De had been thinking the whole of the day so far, De looked up at his Daddy in shock. How did Daddy know that was what De wanted? How was Daddy that clever to know all the things like that!?

"Ah, I think that might be a yes," Castiel smiled, knowing that he had stumbled onto something and locking the information away for later. At De's hesitant nod Castiel placed a kiss onto his baby's forehead once again and said "Alright then baby! Then that's what we'll do."

Turning to switch off the taps, Castiel then lowered himself down to the floor before kneeling and placing De down to sit on the bathroom rug. Quickly, while De still had his hand wrapped into his t-shirt, Castiel pulled it up and over his shoulders from the back and then treaded his arms out - leaving the shirt in his baby's grip and dropped in the boy's lap. 

"There you go baby. You look after Daddy's t-shirt for me ok?"

As De lifted the crumpled blue shirt to rub against his face he smiled shyly at his Daddy and offered up one word "Blanket". 

Confused, Cas asked "Blanket? Huh? What about a blanket De?"

Silly Daddy. He could be so quick to understand some things, but De really had to explain others. Lifting the blanket away from his face to show it to his Daddy he explained again. "Blanket."

Obviously not quite understanding, Castiel tried to clarify. "You'd rather have a blanket than Daddy's t-shirt? That's ok sweetheart."

Frowning slightly at his Daddy Dean tried one more time. "No T-shirt Daddy! De's blanket!", and with that pronouncement he snuggled his blanket once more. 

Understanding flooded Castiel, but just to be absolutely sure he asked "Daddy's t-shirt is De's blanket now? But it's all yucky! Wouldn't De like a nice clean new blanket to cuddle?"

"No!" De exclaimed, holding his blanket as far away as he dared right now. He wanted this blanket! Not another one! "Daddy t-shirt De blanket! Pees Daddy!"

Raising his hands placatingly Castiel back-peddled. "Alright, alright! Daddy's t-shirt can be Dean's blanket. You can keep it baby."

Relaxing once more, though keeping a wary eye on his Daddy - just incase he made any sudden moves towards his special blanket, De began to snuggle it to his face once more. 

Smiling at his contented boy, Castiel carded a hand through the boy's soft dirty blonde locks. "Ok sweetheart, let's start getting you undressed and pop you into the bath. Arms up please."

De, of course, obeyed his Daddy - obediently raising his hands up into the air. Blanket went up with them. Sighing slightly, Castiel decided to just manoeuvre around the obstacle and pulled De's t-shirt up and over the boy's head and arms, threading the blanket through the arm hole of the t-shirt also. That task completed, Cas moved on to the next.   
"Lay down now baby, Let's get that diaper off of you - then you can get straight into the bath."

Once again De obeyed, this time slipping a thumb into his mouth and rubbing his blanket across his nose as he watched carefully to make sure his Daddy didn't go anywhere. Having un-taped the diaper, and finding it slightly wet, leaned across to open a cupboard and grabbed a tub of waiting wipes - making sure to keep a hand in contact with his son at all times - not wanting to startle the baby into thinking he was going anywhere. Quickly wiping his boy clean, and doing a quick inspection to check for any remaining diaper rash, Castiel removed the diaper - rolling the wipes up with it and pushing it into the nearby bin. 

Task completed, Cas reached forward to gather his boy into his arms once more by picking him up from under the armpits. Once the soft pink bottom was supported safely on his hip, Cas moved to stand directly in front of the bath - ready to tackle the next problem.

"De? Honey? Think you can let go of your new blanket for bath time? I don't think we want it to get wet do we?" Cas appealed, though privately he wouldn't mind the shirt joining his baby in the bath as it really could use a good scrub. De unfortunately, shook his head implying the negative, and continued to rub his blanket against his nose. 

Sometimes it really didn't pay to have a son quite so cute. Cas took in the sight of his sleepy and clearly still poorly baby suckling on his thumb and rubbing a corner of t-shirt (or blanket he supposed) against his nose. He looked completely adorable and Cas was powerless against the appeal he found in tired green eyes. Sighing again, Cas relented.

"Alright then baby. Just make sure to dangle your arm over the side of the tub so your blanket doesn't go in ok?"

Gaining a tired nod as De slipped his thumb out of his mouth and held his blanket far away from his body, Castiel lowered Dean down to lie in the comfortably hot water, and knelt himself down next to the tub. Supporting his baby with one arm, Cas gathered a soft wash cloth from the side of the tub before wetting it and rubbing it in small soothing circles against De's belly - gaining a relaxed sigh in the process. 

Gently smiling, Castiel lowered his volume and asked quietly "There. Is that nice honey? Does that feel good?"

Smiling peacefully up at his Daddy, De allowed himself to sink further into the water - confident that his Daddy had hold of him. He breathed "Yeah Daddy."

"That's it baby. Just relax sweetheart and let the bath do it's magic. Just relax."

As Castiel rubbed small circles all over Dean's body, he could see as the tension began to leave his boy. He could see as Dean breathed in the calming lavender steam that the laboured breaths were coming easier and that the coughs were coming less frequently. Even the perpetually running nose had slowed down slightly. 

As daddy and baby enjoyed the warm and quiet atmosphere, Castiel began to hum the tune of 'Hey Jude', effectively reducing De to a pile of goo in his arms. Pleased with the result, Castiel kept watching his exhausted but relaxed boy and continued his ministrations - washing down his baby completely - getting rid of all traces of fever sweat that had been lingering on his boy from earlier in the day. 

Gradually, as the bath began to cool, Castiel decided that bath-time had come to an end.


	16. Bed time for sleepy babies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time for poorly sleepy babies to go to bed. But where will he go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here it is, the end of the fic. I have very much enjoyed writing it, though I struggled for inspiration sometimes. Most of this wrote itself and lots of fluff came out of no where.  
> Once again, thank you very much to Wild_Magic for the amazing prompt and the many many awesome reviews - couldn't have done it without you!  
> And thank you to all who have read, reviewed or left kudos!  
> Please please send prompts or ideas my way!

Pulling the plug, Castiel once more lifted up his baby to wrap him in a large fluffy white towel that he had retrieved from behind him. Patting at any part of his baby he could reach, Castiel crooned to the sleepy pile of goo he held. 

"There's my sleepy boy. There he is. Sleepy sleepy baby."

De just sighed contentedly in his Daddy's arms as he once more raised his hand clutching his blanket to rub it against his face and slipped his thumb into his mouth to nurse slowly. He was so warm and sleepy. At least a bit of the fog that had been clouding his head had gone. Daddy was right as usual. The bath was good for him. And Daddy didn't go anywhere! And he didn't even have to let go of his blanket! That was nice. Daddy was so nice to De. Nice nice Daddy. 

Beginning to hum again as he finished patting dry what he could, Castiel began to walk them down the hall and into the dimly lit nursery, where he lay De down and onto his changing table. Extracting his towel from under the boy, Cas began to dry everything else that he couldn't reach before. 

Finally done with drying De, Castiel gathered what he would need to prepare Dean for sleep from some of the draws under the changing table. 

First things first however. Tugging gently on the hand that De had up to his face, Castiel tried to remove the thumb his baby was sleepily suckling on. Feeling resistance and gaining a tired whine Castiel soothed "It's ok sweetheart. It's ok. I've got a nice clean paci for you right here."

Hearing his Daddy's calm explaination, De cracked open his eyes from where they had fallen shut and went slightly cross eyed as he watched his Daddy slip a green pacifier between his lips. Giving it a few experimental sucks, he soon found himself settling into a rhythm and nursed on it contentedly. He looked up to see his Daddy still watching him fondly. He wondered what was going on now. He was so sleepy and wanted to be in his Daddy's arms again. Sure he hadn't gone away - but it would be much better if De could be having a cuddle rather than be laying on the changing table. Oh yeah. That was probably what was going on. He needed a new diaper. 

De was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of his Daddy's rumbly voice speaking to him quietly and tried to tune back in. "So once we've got you all comfy and cosy in your clean diaper and jammies it'll be time for beddy-byes."

As De heard beddy-byes he started to internally panic. Bed time meant he would be in his crib all alone for the whole night and he didn't want that at all!

"Noh Da-ddy" he implored, feeling his breath hitch and tears gather in his eyes. 

From where he had just finished taping De into his clean diaper - having already applied rash cream and powder, Castiel looked up at De's almost whispered plea. 

"No what sweetheart? Oh De! No tears baby, no tears! What's brought this on huh?" Cas said as he scooped the baby up into his arms again. 

Wrapping himself around his Daddy and burying his head into the crook of the angel's shoulder, De allowed the tears to fall as he said "No bedtime Daddy."

"No bedtime? But you're so sleepy sweetheart. I thought you would want some sleepy time."

Pulling himself tighter against his Daddy De's breath hitched again as he pleaded once more "Pees no sleepy Da-ddy!"

"No sleepy huh?" Cas mumbled through a kiss to the side of the boy's head. "I think yes sleepy. I think I have an exhausted little boy right now."

"Noh Da-ddy" came the quiet whine, interrupted by a yawn. The only reason De's pacifier didn't fall out was because it was smushed into his mouth by where Dean was leaning on Castiel's shoulder. 

"Oh yes," Castiel said as he bounced the baby, "Very sleepy baby. But I think I know why there are tears. Daddy already said he wasn't going anywhere De. I promised. Let's finish getting you dressed in your jammies and then I can show you."

Though loathe to do so, Castiel leant down to once again lay his baby on the changing table. Prying De's arms from around his neck, Castiel kept up his soothing littany the whole time. "I'm not going anywhere De. Daddy promises. I'll never leave you baby. I love you so very much baby."

Quickly manipulating De's limbs into a pair of soft green footie pyjamas(having to once again accommodate De's blanket in his movements), Castiel quickly did up the poppers that ran up the legs, crotch and stomach of the suit, before he reached down and attached a pacifier clip to the outfit - threading the other look to the pacifier that was being frantically suckled at in the boy's mouth. 

Gathering his boy into his arms once again, Castiel figured 'what the hell' and used piece of the t-shirt dangling in his boy's hand to mop up the still slowly falling tears from De's face - it isn't like it hadn't served that purpose earlier in the day aanyway. 

"There now. All better. All snuggly and warm. You are such a good boy De. I know this has been a very hard day for you, but you have been so brave and amazing. Thank you for trusting me to look after you. I love you so much De. So much."

Dean hugged his Daddy tightly - wrapping his arms around his Daddy's neck and holding on tight. He mumbled "Lobe oo too Da-ddy" around his pacifier. 

They had a long hug before Castiel spoke up again. "I love you baby. You have been so good today - do you think you can trust Daddy just a little bit longer? It definitely is sleepy time for tired boys, but I absolutely promise you that I will not leave you De. Not even for a moment. Do you think you can do that?"

Daddy hadn't left him all afternoon and evening after he said he hadn't. Well De had been making sure that Daddy hadn't gone anywhere, but he could still do that now. Wanting to see what Daddy was talking about, De nodded. He was very sleepy now that he thought about it. 

Giving him another kiss, Cas said "Thank you for your trust sweetheart. I won't let you down." He then carried Dean away from the nursery and began making his way downstairs. De just suckled his paci gently and held on tight to his blankie. He wanted to know what was going on - they were going away from the beds and cribs!

Entering the kitchen, Castiel and Dean discovered Gabriel and Sammy sat at the table once again. Now however, Sammy was dressed in a blue two-piece pajama set decorated with dinosaurs and was sat at the table drinking what looked to be a tumbler of milk. 

"Hey guys!" Gabriel greeted, just at the same time Sammy said "Hi Uncle Cas! Hi De!" and waved. Gabriel quickly cautioned his son to hold onto his cup with both hands and his son immediately complied - lifting his cup to take another long sip of his drink. 

"Hello you two. I see you are all dressed for bed Sammy. I like your pajamas," Castiel commented, reaching out a hand to smooth down his nephew's hair as he walked past the table to stand in the kitchen - flicking on the kettle as he did so. 

"Yeah! Daddy said I had to get ready for bed now, but that we could watch a film before bedtime. I picked toy story this time!" Sammy chattered happily, watching as his uncle stood and swayed side to side, holding his little brother close. De looked very sleepy. He guessed it must be bedtime for his brother now - after all - babies needed lots of sleep and didn't get to stay up as late as big boys. 

"That sounds very exciting. De and I will have to watch it with you another time. What are you drinking?"

"Daddy made us some warm milk with honey in it. Daddy said it's the best drink for in the night time!"

"Did he now?" Castiel crooked a smile at his brother, sharing the other angel's contentment at watching the little boy chatter away.

"Was I wrong?" Gabriel asked, affecting an air of innocence around him. 

"Nope! Daddy is never every wrong!" Sammy cheered, "Except for that time when…"

Sammy was suddenly interupted by his Daddy quicky and rather loudly saying "Yes thank you Sammy! Drink your milk!"

Surprised, but happy to comply, Sammy did just that, looking between the two grown ups as his Daddy blushed and his uncle began to chuckle - patting his hand on De's bottom in an attempt to soothe his brother who had jumped when his Daddy was loud. Grown ups were weird!

Blush fading, Gabriel spoke to his brother. "Is that kettle to make up a bottle Cas?"

"Yes, it's time for De's night-time bottle. Why?" Cas asked, looking curiously to his brother - he would have thought that had been obvious. 

"Ah, well there's no need for that then. I heard you guys finish with De's bath not that long ago, and so when I was making Sammy's milk, I made up a bottle and put it into the warmer. It should be ready now. It's just there" Gabriel explained, pointing to the bottle warmer on the counter. 

Glancing behind him, and discovering the promised bottle, Castiel flicked off the device and checked the temperature of the bottle against his wrist. Perfect. "Thank you Gabriel. That was very thoughtful of you."

"No problem-o little bro! I thought it might be about time. Will you need any help…?" Gabriel trailed off, nodding his head to the baby who was resting his head on his Daddy's shoulder and attempting not to fall asleep. It looked like a losing battle, but the boy had a certain tenseness in him - like he was fighting a battle and wasn't about to give in any time soon. Gabriel thought it might just have something to do with the way he was clinging tightly to his Daddy in anyway that he could. 

"No, I don't think so Gabriel. But thank you for the offer. We'll be ok from here" Castiel replied, trying to convery how thankful he was for his brother's support throughout the day so far. He wasn't quite sure how he would have managed without him. 

"Like I said. No problem-o Cassy" Gabriel replied, smiling fondly at the pair before him. 

"Well then," Castiel stated, "I think it is time I got this young man off to bed." Bending his head to try and peer at his baby's face Castiel asked "Can you say 'night night' to your brother and uncle baby?"

Peering out into the kitchen from his semi-hidden position against his Daddy's chest, De raised a hand to flex his fingers in a wave around his blanket and mumbled "Nigh' nigh'" before dropping his head back down again to rest more comfortably. 

"Night De! Love you!" Sammy called loudly from where he had just finished his milk. 

Gabriel stood up and moved over to his brother and nephew, standing close and stroking a hand over his nephew's hair and placing a kiss to the boy's crown before saying "Sleep well sweetheart. See you in the morning."

Grinning mischeviously as he pulled back, Gabriel avoided his brother's questioning eye as he called to his son. "Hey Sammy! Think you can go brush your teeth and go potty while I help your uncle Cas with something? Then, when I'm back we'll start up that movie."

Clambouring to his feet, Sammy ran to put his cup in the sink before hurrying out of the room calling "Yeah! Night De! Night Uncle Cas!"

"Goodnight Sammy" Castiel called, and watched as his son raised a hand to once again attempt a wave around his blanket. He then turned to his brother. "Alright, what are you up to Gabriel?" he asked suspiciously, knowing that the grin his brother was making no attempt to supress could not mean anything good. 

"Nothing! Nothing! Just thought I might help you get the baby to bed after all. Nothing bad, I promise. Now lead the way little brother. I believe I know what your plan for this evening was and I am here to help in any way I can!"

Eyeing his brother suspiciously again, but giving him the benefit of the doubt for the moment Castiel allowed himself to be guided out of the room and towards the stairs. Once he reached the landing, he carried his son past the open nursery door and through into his own bedroom. 

As they had neared the nursery, Dean had begun to suck frantically on his pacifier - a few new tears dropping from his eyes, but lifted his head to look around curiously once he realised that they were not going into his room. 

Recognising his Daddy's bedroom, De relaxed slightly in his Daddy's arms but looked around, wondering why they were in here. Also not knowing why his Uncle Gabe was there. This wasn't Uncle Gabe's bedroom. He did note the presence of the bottle in his Daddy's hand though. That would be nice. He was a little bit hungry now actually. Hungry and sleepy. 

Once they reached the bedroom, Gabriel raced past his brother and flipped down the covers on the bed. He looked cheekily over at his brother and in the next instant Castiel found himself to be dressed in a comfortable pair of sleep trousers, rather than the jeans he had been wearing previously. Narrowing his eyes, and once more patting comfortably at his boy's diaper clad bottom (De had jumped when the change of clothes had occurred) he said warningly "Gaaabe."

"Now now Cassy, stop fussing. You'll only end up stressing out the baby" Gabriel replied cheekily, then made a wide sweeping gesture with an arm to indicate the bed. "Now in you get little brother. It's time for you to get into bed and get my nephew all fed and ready to nod off." At Castiel's shocked expression he grinned again. "Was that not your plan Cas? To let the baby sleep with you tonight so you didn't have to leave him alone?"

At this, Dean perked up considerably. He was sleeping in his Daddy's bed tonight! Daddy wasn't going to put him to sleep in the crib?! That was brilliant! Dean hummed happily as he hugged his Daddy tightly in a silent thank you. 

Castiel hugged him back unconsciously while saying to Gabe "Well yes…but…"

"Well then!" Gabe exclaimed, "In you get then! Get that baby fed and off to sleep!"

Knowing that he was not going to win against a hyper Gabriel, Castiel relented and walked over to the bed. He placed the bottle down onto the nightstand, then climbed into the bed and arranged himself and Dean so that they were reclined on the pillows. He then arranged De so that he was in a comfortable nursing position before gathering up the bottle from the side table. 

As soon as that was done, Castiel found his brother swooping down to arrange the blankets around them and begin tucking both him and his son in. Narrowing his eyes, Castiel just let Gabriel do as he wanted before looking over to regard his son who was watching the proceedings through curious but heavily lidded eyes, attempting to stifle yawns. 

Gabriel eventually finished his fussing with the sheets, then straightened to regard the pair he had just tucked into bed. "Perfect!" he exclaimed, "All snug as a bug in a rug!"

"Yes. Thank you Gabriel", Castiel deadpanned. 

Muffled giggles could be heard coming from his arms, and both angels looked down to find the happy sleepy baby who had brought his blanket up to rub against his face, nuzzling against it. 

"Want me to take your Daddy's t-shirt baby?" Gabriel asked.

As Dean clutched at his prize tighter, Castiel explained, "No thank you Gabriel. That is Dean's new blanket. I don't think he'd be very happy if you took it away." 

"Ah, I see," Gabriel explained, smiling fondly at the boy as he looked up at him and showed him the corner of his blanket shyly. "I can see it is a very special blanket indeed. Straight from your Daddy huh?"

De grinned around his pacifier - see! Uncle Gabe got it! Clever uncle Gabe. 

Reaching down to smooth a hand over De's hair, and then leaning down, Gabriel placed a gentle kiss on his nephew's forehead, and before he could stop him, quickly placed one on the head of his little brother as well, knowing that without seriously disturbing the baby, there was nothing he could do to stop him. He straightened up quickly nevertheless saying, "Ok boys! I'm going to go join Sammy. Sleep well!", and with that he retreated from the room, closing the door gently behind himself. 

Allowing himself to chuckle now that Gabriel was gone, Castiel looked down at the boy cradled in his arms and said "I don't know what we're going to do with him De. He's terrible."

De just looked up at his Daddy confusedly. Uncle Gabe was terrible? De thought he was pretty awesome. 

Seeing that the baby was too far gone to properly understand what he meant, he turned to the main task at hand. Feeding the baby and getting him to sleep. "So then sweetheart. Is this ok? Sleeping with Daddy? I told you I wouldn't leave you. This way I won't be leaving you all night long."

De gurgled his happiness around his paci and wiggled himself into a slightly more comfortable position, showing his contentment and happiness to his Daddy. 

"Good. Ok then, how about you have some nice warm milk, then you can drift off to sleepy time?" Castiel cooed as he raised the bottle up towards his baby's mouth. De spit out his pacifier, letting it dangle against his chest, and eagerly accepted the nipple that was pushing against his lips, beginning to suckle eagerly. 

Castiel smiled as he fed his baby. He watched as the boy began to suckle eagerly, before slowing down to a slow, regular rhythm as he drank. The poor baby's blocked nose made him snuffle a lot more than usual as he drank, but Cas found that it was cute. Figuring that the situation was unsalvageable at this point, Castiel used part of his baby's new blanket to mop up any dribbles of milk that escaped as De had to breathe through his mouth more than usual. He really was going to have to wash the darn thing soon. Trying to get it away from De would be fun. Cas grimaced at the thought. Oh well. That was a problem for another day. 

As De drank, he gazed up into his Daddy's face, studying every detail. He really did love his Daddy. Even though he had left earlier, he had come back and he hadn't gone away again. Maybe Daddy knew now that De didn't want Daddy to go away. He must do as he was letting De sleep in his bed. Daddy was usually pretty strict about making him sleep in the crib or the playpen. Daddy must know. Daddy was so amazing and lovely and kind and De really did love Daddy…

De's thoughts about his Daddy trailed off as he fell asleep, still nursing at his bottle. Castiel, noticing when De drifted off slowly pulled the bottle out of the slumbering babe's mouth and inserted the pacifier that was accepted and slowly suckled on. 

As Castiel put aside the very nearly empty bottle and adjusted De to a slightly better sleeping position he scanned the baby's features - relaxed in sleep, as they should be. Castiel was prepared to hold his boy through the night and beyond if it helped the baby to feel relaxed and happy. As long as De needed him, he would be there and give him whatever he needed. 

Castiel observed the remaining symptoms of illness that still clung to the boy - the runny nose and perpetual cough. He knew that De's head, throat and ear still hurt, but over all he decided that the boy was better off than he had been earlier in the day. A few more days of rest and care and Castiel was pretty sure that De would be completely recovered. He suspected that De was going to be awfully clingy for those few days, but Castiel was prepared for that. Anything for his baby. And he suspected that he would get a lot of help from his brother and nephew at caring for the boy. As a family, they would get De through this illness in one piece. Yes…as a family, Cas thought as he allowed himself to slip into a meditative state for the night, happy with the precious weight he held safely in his arms.


End file.
